My Father's Sins
by DONOVAN94
Summary: The Lockwood family has always suffered a rare and crippling genetic disease. When Benjamin Lockwood is offered a chance to save Maisie from such a fate, he agrees to it. But little does he know what he will unleash. A beast now roams the Manor's halls, a dirty secret that must be hidden. But nothing will keep him from freedom, or the little girl who is like him in so many ways...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Having watched Fallen Kingdom and completely loved it, my mind was spinning with potential stories. This is what I came up with. Please bear in mind, right from the get-go, this will be majorly AU for the new movie as I try to explore how far this rabbit-hole can go. Having said that, previously established lore, such as dates, and facts that have helped to establish this universe I will remain true to. There will be some spoilers for JW:FK, especially in later chapters. So if you don't want spoilers, go watch the film first.**

 **Please remember to review. I want to know if you guys think I should continue this. Enjoy!**

* * *

My Father's Sins

* * *

 _August 30_ _th_ _, 2008_

"Sir? I report that we have a viable result for you."

Benjamin looked up. The constant shake in his left knee stilling for a fraction of a second. A woman in a white lab coat stood before him, an impatient tick in her right heel made it click against the tiles. Her dark skin, greying hair and thick accent suggested she was originally from a middle-eastern country, but Benjamin could never remember which. All he could remember was that her name was Dr Moroe, and that she was expensive. The woman jerked her head, not looking at him, scribbling something on her notebook. She turned on her heel and briskly walked back the way she'd come, not waiting for her employer to even stand.

Braced for the familiar lick of pain along his aching bones, he pulled himself up with the use of his cane. His housekeeper, ever faithful Iris, was quick to offer to help him, but he waved her away shortly. He was not crippled just yet. The disease hadn't completely taken from him the use of his legs. And until he was wheelchair bound, he was determined to make his own way. The strike of the cane on the floor echoed down the hall like the chime of Death's bell.

A chill swept down the hall and he struggled not to give in to the urge to shiver. He hated it down here. The tiled white floors shone like bone. The concrete walls, smoothed to perfection, had been leeched of colour. Florescent lights above did not flicker once, their eye-piercing brightness constant and unyielding. In another part of the basement, the sound of distant machines beeped and whirred like whispers just beyond the edge of his hearing. Benjamin wanted nothing more than to go back to the sleek mahogany staircases and rich oak floors of the levels above them. He wanted the sun shining through the stain-glass windows, he wanted the familiar tick of the great grandfather clocks on every floor. Despite the new splash of paint and modernisation of the equipment down here, Benjamin could still see the ghosts of the past lingering behind every brick and door.

He opened the door that Dr Moroe had slipped through. Before he could prevent her, Iris held it open for him so he wouldn't have to shoulder its weight. Benjamin tried to remember his patience and say nothing. Iris meant nothing by it, she was just a caring woman by nature. The pair of them stepped into the room, their senses suddenly bombarded with even brighter light, the scent of disinfectant and a scorching heat. Eli Mills was already here, stood off to the side and taking note of everything that happened with a critical and observant eye. Benjamin immediately made his way over to him. It felt good to have the young man here. Mills knew how important this was to Benjamin, and as with everything he asked of him, the younger man did everything possible to follow Benjamin's every wish. It was Mills that had found Doctor Moroe, as well as the team that had updated the old labs and worked them to the bone.

Mills nodded his head in greeting to his boss. "Sir, I think we're almost ready to–"

Benjamin's eyes had caught on a group of Doctors and scientists crowded around something. His heart clenched, and the older man found his legs moving, pulling him forward without his permission. Like a fish on a hook, he was reeled in. Nothing would hold him back, he was compelled to see what was the centre of attention. Not even when Mills tried to catch his sleeve with a whispered: "Sir! I wouldn't just yet–"

He brushed the younger man off sharply without looking back. The scientists parted before him, and Benjamin found himself looking into an incubator: an ordinary looking box, like you would see in any maternity ward in any hospital. Laid out on the blanketed bed of the incubator, was a small wrinkled baby. Its features and skin were slightly swollen and pruned from the constant submergence in liquid it had endured whilst growing. An oversized diaper was the only thing it wore, the pinched and cut umbilical cord poking over the top, looking slightly blue and off where it had been hooked to an artificial feeder. Benjamin pressed his hand against the glass top of the incubator, wanting so badly to reach inside for the tiny life within. The ghastly sight of needles, wires and tubes sticking into the soft new flesh of the infant wrenched his heart in two. He could see the little chest quivering as it attempted to breathe. A pinprick mark dotted the baby's heel where blood had already been drawn. He'd given strict instructions that he was to be summoned the moment she was brought out of the tank… the moment she was "born". The Doctors had worked fast in order to get her to this state before he'd even come in the room.

"How bad is it?" he heard himself ask in a hollow voice.

The other scientists had the decency to look saddened for his predicament, their heads bowed as they each wondered who would tell him. Dr Moroe was at her desk, looking through her microscope at the blood samples she'd taken and deferring to her notes. "Considering the state of the DNA I had to work with, the subject is as rampant with the disease as its original counterpart was when the sample was collected."

 _Which wasn't very good at all…_ Benjamin pressed his lips together and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "I thought… Mills, you told me this would work…"

"With all due respect, Sir," Mills reminded him softly with a slow step forward. "You were adamant that most of the DNA strand remained unchanged. You didn't want anything different – aside from the removal of the disease. Tests were done, but we couldn't do it without majorly defying your wish."

"I cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." Moroe muttered to herself as she scribbled further, the pen scratching so loudly it seemed like it would tear through the paper.

"Will she… will she live?" Benjamin forced himself to ask, trying hard not to remember when he'd uttered those exact same words…

"The subject is stable," Moroe said before Mills could. She spun her stall so that she faced Benjamin, her dark eyes hard behind her thick rimmed glasses. "I was able to work _some_ miracles. The disease was slowed during incubation, but now only time will tell if that holds. In any case the subject will need constant medical treatment going forward."

 _The one thing she hated so badly…_ His stomach was knotted, but he forced out the words. "Do whatever you have to. More funding will be provided for you to find a cure."

Moroe perked up a little, and she hurriedly spun back around to her desk to scribble again in her note book. Mills took another step closer and gently suggested: "Do you have a name for her, Mr Lockwood? I don't think it would be appropriate for Dr Moroe to keep calling her _the subject_ from now on."

Names were permanent. Names allowed for attachments to grow in your heart because a name made something _real_. Could he risk that if he was so close to already losing her again? Benjamin cast one last look inside the Incubator – so small, so fragile, and already beset by wickedness caused by him. Her hair was dark, and when she fleetingly opened her eyes, he caught a glimpse of those same eyes he remembered from so long ago…

 _It's like she never left…_ he thought, and then said: "Maisie. Her name is Maisie."

* * *

 _August 31_ _st_ _, 1973_

"Her name is Maisie," Benjamin proclaimed to the trio of nurses crowded around him.

They applauded, and one hurried off to get done the essential paperwork. The other two quickly set to work on cleaning up his wife. Carmine Lockwood lay on the surgeon's table, her eyes closed in peaceful slumber. For as long as Benjamin had known her, Carmine had never been good with pain; she practically limped for a whole day every time she stubbed her toe. So she had vehemently argued that there was no chance on heaven or earth that she would go through the pain of labour. Despite the fact she hated the idea of the scar it would leave, she'd insisted on a C-Section. And having a millionaire for a husband had seen to it that it was secured for her.

Benjamin hoped the nurses would let her wake up soon. He couldn't wait to show her their beautiful and perfect baby girl. Carmine had liked the idea of having a daughter she could shower with clothes and pretty baubles and parade her at pageants just like she used to as a girl. Benjamin was certain he wanted a more enlightened and educated upbringing for his daughter, but would humour Carmine a little. He wanted to encourage the new mother as much as he could, for she'd been more than a little reluctant when she'd first found out about the pregnancy.

It was actually a little bit of a relief that she was still unconscious. Carmine was of a… _sensitive disposition_. She was constantly fretting over Benjamin's attention, she'd greedily had him all to herself for six blissful years of marriage. She hated change, and she was constantly fussing over her appearance. Having been brought up in high society, the woman was obsessed with being seen "the correct" way by those of higher ranking circles. Weak-willed and liable to fall easily to an insurmountable level of insecurities, Carmine Lockwood always needed to be handled with care when approaching anything new. Benjamin had feared she would become jealous of their daughter if the first thing she saw when she woke up was him cooing delightedly over the baby instead of devotedly attending to her. But that wouldn't happen, he would see to it that both his girls got all the love they needed and more.

"Well, Maisie," Benjamin murmured softly to the pink-towel-wrapped bundle in his arms. "You're going to meet Mummy very soon! And then we're all going to go home, we're you can have the biggest garden to run around in, and all the toys money can buy. Spare no expense for my little Maisie-daisy. We already have a governess all picked out for you. Iris is her name: she's a lovely lady and she'll be in charge of teaching you everything you're going to need until you can come and run the company with Daddy!"

The babe blinked open wide dark eyes that seemed to smile up at him.

Benjamin's heart melted with so much love, he didn't know what to do with it all. He tucked the little baby against his chest and began to rock her softly. "Just you wait, my dearest heart. You're going to take the world by storm."

* * *

 _September 28_ _th_ _, 2008_

Benjamin stared into the Incubator, his hand pressed against the glass. Inside, Maisie slept on fitfully, her face scrunched up as if she was uncomfortable, her feet and hands flinching as if her dreams were filled with the same prodding needles that also haunted her waking hours. A machine beside the Incubator droned on to echo out her heart beat to the room. Despite the stuffy heat, Maisie's pale and bruised skin seemed cold and lonely.

Almost a month old, and he hadn't been allowed to hold her once yet.

Things had just gone from bad to worse since day one. The disease was already trying to make a foothold, to squeeze the life out of its small host. In her one month of life, Maisie had already needed two blood transfusions just to introduce clean blood where her liver was already starting to malfunction. Dr Moroe had been doing her absolute best to stem the growing strength of the disease, and had been countering it with as much injections, steroids and radiation pulses she could force in that wouldn't kill Maisie. This morning had yielded somewhat satisfying results for her efforts, for it seemed last week's dire news had been averted – for now. Moroe had only once suggested "scrapping the project to start fresh". Benjamin had almost screamed the mansion down, threatening not just to fire the scientist but to bring hell's fury on her if she even dared such a thing! Thank goodness Mills had been there to calm the situation, or else Benjamin might've murdered the woman with his cane.

It was the only time Benjamin had shown any significant emotion since Maisie's birth. He'd been in a state of numbness after he'd first seen her. A part of him expected awful news to come at him every morning. If he allowed his emotions to rule him when he so often felt such fear and despair for what the next hour would bring, he'd be a living wreck of a man. No, he had to keep everything bottled up and tightly held in check. But the Doctor had struck a nerve that had flung open the gates to his pent up fears and unleashed them with vengeful fury. Despite the fact that nothing was like the idolised little picture he'd sold himself, he would never allow anyone to hurt Maisie. If he lost her then… well, that would be God's will and ultimate cruelty to him. But until her heart stopped beating of its own accord, no one was pulling the plug on his little Maisie.

"Sir?" Mills' voice murmured softly, careful not to be too loud and cause Maisie to stir – she was an incredibly light sleeper. "May I have a word?"

Benjamin slowly pulled himself away from the glass and followed Mills out into the hallway. He told himself he did not notice how Mills slowed his usual brisk pace so that Benjamin's limp could keep up. The young handsome man escorted Mills into an office across the way from the labs. Mills offered Benjamin the chair, but he shook his head. Eli leaned back against the desk, rubbed at the light stubble dotting his jaw. The man was rather handsome, and brilliant. Benjamin had spotted him several years ago, straight out of college, and had seen so much potential. He'd trained him up, made him his personal assistant, and when Benjamin's disease had finally started to make its presence known in his aging body, he'd appointed Mills as an acting authority over his fortune. A younger mind, a younger man, to make sure Benjamin's wealth and legacy would be ushered into the future. In return, Mills was a fiercely loyal man who had devoted himself to Benjamin. But perhaps these past few years had been too much? Mills seemed more tired than he used to, he spent too long agonising over paperwork.

Maybe Benjamin had been wrong to involve the young man in such a personal affair. But Mills was almost like a son to him…

"If you're going to give me bad news, then just say it." he told him grimly.

Mills sighed and rubbed his hands together. "I don't want you to give up, Sir. But if we're going to save your daughter… we need to start looking at more _drastic_ options."

Benjamin shook his head. She had always hated it when the doctors used to get creative with their techniques. Too invasive, she used to say. How could he do that to a baby?

The door opened behind them, and Benjamin cocked a bushy brow when Dr Moroe marched in, notebook closed and held securely at her side. She looked sharply over at Mills. "Have you told him?"

Mills rolled his eyes. "I was about to–"

"Mr Lockwood," Moroe said briskly, cutting straight over Eli as she stepped closer to the billionaire philanthropist. "The subject – _Maisie_ – requires more than is humanly possible to give."

"I hired you because you said you could push the boundaries of human possibilities," Benjamin growled out, the grief threatening to overwhelm him in a compelling wave. "And yet you tell me I'm still going to lose her?"

"You misunderstand. I said the subject requires more than is _humanly_ possible to give. But there are other ways to cheating God."

Mills took that moment to step in, clearing his throat to grab Benjamin's attention before he could snap back at the woman. "Dr Moroe has come up with a theory that I believe could hold… potential." There was a brief moment of pause, as if Mills was calculating whether the line of no-return was safe enough to cross. "Dr Henry Wu has been approached by Masrani. They want him to concoct some type of experiment. A completely new animal."

Benjamin didn't need to ask how Mills knew about this. He himself had authorised the proposed network of spies within Masrani Global. After poor John's death, Masrani Global had snatched up the old man's assets and shouldered Benjamin's attempts to assist in this matter. He'd helped start this dream, after all, he wouldn't just relinquish his and John's vision to some stranger he didn't know and a company he didn't trust. But he was ignored and rejected, so he decided to keep an eye on things from within. So far, Simon Masrani had almost done John proud.

"Simon Masrani wants a new attraction," Mills went on to say. "But we've struck a deal with Wu, to see if we can alter this design into something similar but different, that will be grown here, for our own investments."

"And how does this have any relevance to our current situation?" Benjamin asked testily. He didn't want to think about the ball of disapproval he had in his stomach at the mention of that decision. He thought it wise not to ask. He didn't want to know how Mills would have Dr Wu turn on Hammond's dream.

"The new organism is a hybrid," Dr Moroe interjected. "I said it is not _humanly possible_ to save the subject. But it is not an impossibility."

"What are you saying…?"

"Wu's ' _miracles of life'_ , have always been accidents," Dr Moroe spat with clear dislike, "side effects to his need to cut corners. He has never pushed for these results. Let me push where he won't. The natural immune systems of animals have always been superior to ours, their physiology is what makes them ideal for medical testing. If I could have that raw potential closely linked with the subject, we could have an infinite resource."

"What Dr Moroe is trying to say," Mills said. "Is that she believes this hybrid Wu is going to make, if given a piece of Maisie's DNA could potentially yield–"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" Benjamin stumbled back, horrified. The sting of irony was clear in his mind, for he remembered Hammond's exact same words to him so many years ago. "You can't! That's crossing a line!"

"It will save her!" Moroe said, and Benjamin froze. "We wouldn't use enough to make the DNA of any significance. Just enough so that medicine tests, even blood samples could pass. With these genetics we might even unlock the cure!"

 _The cure_ … a fable, a fairytale that Benjamin had deluded himself with so many times but could not bare to believe in anymore. It was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the light at the end of the tunnel. Yet still he was held spellbound by them, even now. Was it desperation? Madness?

"And," Mills murmured. "Once we have that cure, we can still sell on the asset for profit. We lose nothing."

He didn't ask the finer details. He didn't press them for specifics. He purposefully left it at their vague and magical description so that he could wash his hands clean of all this once he had what he wanted. In the years to come, he would bitterly regret such a decision. So much could have been avoided if he'd just said _no_. But if he had… his heart would've have died along with it. So instead, he just told them: "Do it."

* * *

 _March 14_ _th_ _, 1983_

The promise he'd kept to Maisie was always the spine behind every decision he made. She would want for nothing, and the knowledge of the world would be taught to her. She was the centre of his entire world.

Perhaps that was why his marriage had not lasted. Carmine had not taken to motherhood, perhaps even worse than Benjamin had feared. A severe case of what would later be called Post-natal-depression had hit her hard. She couldn't stand it to see Benjamin shower Maisie in love and affection, thinking that the baby was stealing the love that was rightfully hers. Benjamin had tried to explain that there was room in his heart for both of them, but Carmine wouldn't have it. Only once had Benjamin – when Maisie was three – suggested they have another child, so that Maisie would grow up with a friend (and maybe so that Carmine could bond with this one). His wife had almost divorced him over that, and so no mention of more children was ever brought up again.

Maisie seemed to know that her mother was emotionally distant from her, and so kept herself away and mostly with her father or her nanny, Iris. This had caused more of a rift between the husband and wife, as Benjamin hated to see his little girl be so disappointed. Carmine had felt she was exceptionally lonely, and worst of all, she thought motherhood made her appear old. So in a bid to "recapture" her youth, she'd begun to socialise with the wrong type of rich crowd. She was out all the time, and more often than not, Benjamin would wake in the mornings to find that his wife had not returned home at all. The late seventies were filled with experimentation and sampling new substances. And Carmine's weak-willed spirit made her unable to say no whenever anyone offered her anything. Maisie had just turned six when her mother had accidentally overdosed herself and died. The funeral had been held but not many were in attendance, and Maisie wasn't as distraught as Benjamin had feared she might be. The little girl had hardly known the woman, she said, so why should she cry over her?

So Benjamin had later, in the safety of his own room, cried _for her_.

It had been just them three for a while, Benjamin, Iris and Maisie. And then, in 1981, Benjamin had run into an old friend: John Hammond. The two had first met when John was just starting to gain real traction amassing his wealth, and Benjamin had just come out of university. John was a couple of years older than Benjamin, but the two of them had become the best of friends over the course of a single evening. The two had dreamed up various schemes together over the course of the next few years, and John was even Benjamin's best man at his wedding. However, with John's projects and game parks all across the world needing his attention at various stages, it became increasingly hard to keep in touch. Neither friend would hold that against the other, they were grown-up enough to understand that sometimes life finds a way of getting complicated.

John had come to Benjamin and had once more spun his dreams so grand over a night of drinks that Benjamin was swept away by it. John had become recently fascinated by the science of DNA that had started to really take off in recent years. He imagined what it would be like to set up a park filled with the fantastical… and Benjamin had fallen for the dream too. The pair had decided right then and there that they would take up one last adventure.

Their research teams had taken several weeks to turn up anything useful, but once the fossil and amber samples started to come in, the pair of them got to work. Benjamin had dabbled in this kind of research in his earlier years, so it was no leap for him to grasp the science of it. They'd hired the best minds and in the labs set in the basement beneath the Lockwood Estate, they'd begun their exploration into the powers of godhood.

Finally, one of the lab technicians came in and handed Benjamin a sample in a dish and the papers that went with it. Benjamin read it through first, his eyes scrutinising every word. His fingers began to shake. His face turned white. "John!"

"What is it?" Hammond asked, sounding almost panicked.

Benjamin's feet shuffled, numbed. "The sample… it's viable…"

John just stood there slack-jawed. They'd done it. They'd actually done it! John was the first to break out of his stupor and scream for joy. He bounded over to Benjamin a wrapped him up in a fierce bear-hug, jumping up and down on the spot. Benjamin laughed, then threw his head back and shouted with cheer. They'd done it! The impossible, and they'd done it!

"Daddy? Uncle John?" called a small voice. The pair turned to find Maisie, her brown hair pulled back in a tight braid, standing in the doorway. Iris stood dutifully behind her. Maisie frowned at the pair of men, confused. "What are you doing?"

"Celebrating!" John crowed with delight. He ran forward and swept Maisie off her feet and spun her round. The child startled but then shrieked with laughter. John had always adored Maisie, he claimed she reminded him so much of his own daughter, and he had always been called 'the favourite uncle'. He took Maisie's hand and led her over to peer into the dish Benjamin held. "Come quick! Look! You see that? That, Maisie-Daisy, is the key to life."

Within the next year, John and Benjamin managed to successfully clone their first prehistoric animal. With this proof, John and Benjamin began to actually start to set up the dream that was slowly materialising in their heads. A park, a sanctuary, where extinction didn't have to be forever… Sometimes Benjamin struggled to comprehend what it was they were trying to achieve. But Hammond never wavered, not once did his vision ever faulter, his dream was always there and when he spoke of it he made you believe that such a glorious thing was possible. The year after that, 1985, the pair of them set up a meeting to attract investors to create a company they would call INGEN: International Genetics Incorporated. Benjamin, with his wealthy connections long set up by his family for generations, was able to attract the best investors, who followed his example when he threw down his money for Hammond – just like they'd rehearsed. The Ingen company was established within that same year. In 1986, Ingen took the research that John and Benjamin had started with, and managed to successfully clone the very first dinosaur: A triceratops.

Benjamin brought Maisie along with him to where the magnificent animal was being kept. He escorted her in, hardly able to keep his own excitement in. Maisie, like most children, had always been fascinated with dinosaurs. Carefully through the glass, he'd shown it to her. She hadn't spoken for an awfully long time, and then slowly, she turned to look back at him, tears in her eyes but her mouth opened wide with pure awe and joy.

And Benjamin vowed to always do everything in his power to keep that wonderful smile there!

* * *

 _February 2_ _nd_ _, 2010_

The time it had taken for Wu to finish the DNA splicing, and for Dr Moroe to further tweak his original design with her own extras, had tested the limit of Benjamin's patience. Between that and then the formation of the embryo and incubation of the egg, time ticked on. Time that Maisie did not have. It became a race a against the clock that no one wanted to acknowledge. Moroe tried to give herself some time, performing whatever measures she felt was necessary in order to keep Maisie alive until they could see if the fruits of their labour was worth it. For some of these procedures, Benjamin couldn't watch.

Maisie was just under eighteen months old when finally, the end was in sight. In a room right next door to hers, separated only by a wall of glass with a sliding door, another lifeform was being born. A single egg was laid on the table underneath the heat-lamp. A crack appeared on the off-white shell. From inside, a creaking squeak sounded. No one was in there with it. Wu had passed on a message to Mills when he'd handed him the embryo DNA. Apparently, this Hybrid was purposefully designed to be dangerous, but the exact outcome wasn't guaranteed yet. All caution was taken and so the scientists had vacated the room to wait behind a pane of glass until the newly hatched creature was docile enough for them to swoop in with sedatives.

A tiny hand poked out through the egg and flopped lifelessly against the shell. The monitors that read the signatures taken from the egg told them it was not dead, just resting. The talons were long and curled like the Grim Reaper's scythe, the scales black, the flesh twitching uncontrollably. In her Incubator, Maisie began to stir, possibly for food. She wriggled around, having been kept in the Incubator for most of her life, she had only just learned to sit up by sheer force of will. When no one came to give her food straight away, her little pale face puckered and then she began to cry out. In the other room, the occupant inside the egg was stirred to life by the noise. It reached out blindly with hooked claws in the direction of the noise. Slowly, more of the egg was pushed apart as a small black head poked its way out with a mouthful of mismatched needle teeth. It squawked indignantly as it fell out of the egg and onto the cold table.

On wobbly legs, the creature stood, tapping its raised toe-claws on the ground as if sending out some signal. _One-Two. One-Two-Three._ Its head, with quill-like-feathers twitching along its neck and behind its skull, twisted around as if looking for something. Maisie cried out again. The black monster with its far-too-bright golden eyes snapped its gaze in the direction of the noise again, toe-claw tapping again, and its mouth chittering loudly.

Dr Moroe was the first to approach it. She snatched it up and roughly began to turn it this way and that. The creature shrieked in outrage and wriggled, but it was already exhausted from hatching and so quickly grew tired. Benjamin was still a little put off by the dread he felt in his stomach at such profound _anger_ in that creature's gaze. Dr Moroe dictated to her underlings who took down notes on measurements and weights and other things Moroe took note of. Benjamin tapped on the glass for her to get on with it. She immediately pulled out a syringe and took a blood sample. The Hybrid hissed at the pain, but Moroe didn't take any heed.

Quickly taking the sample to her desk she ran tests that lasted twenty minutes. In that time, the creature was fed and properly looked over to make sure it was healthy. In the end, whatever Moroe found, it made her go completely still for a moment, before slowly turning her chair to stare Mills and Benjamin in the eye.

"It is viable!" she proclaimed with a triumphant gleam in her eye.

Benjamin felt like he could collapse.

A few hours later, Moroe had managed to distil a form of the creature's blood so that it would be safe for human use. Once it was done, she immediately came into the adjoining room and gave it immediately to Maisie. The infant had screamed when her sensitive skin had been pierced hastily. Now they awaited results. Maisie had been coming up for her next blood transfusion anyway.

Within an hour, there was a noticeable improvement. Maisie's skin looked brighter, her hair that had been eroded to patches on her head from a lifetime of constantly laying down, looked shinny again. Samples Moroe took said that the blood was overall looking cleaner, which meant the liver had responded well. Benjamin silently allowed his tears to fall. A year and a half old, and only now was he allowed to hold her for the very first time. This wasn't a permanent cure, but it was a step in the right direction. He told Mills and Moroe to make immediate accommodations for the creature so that further testing could be done. It'd saved Maisie's life, so therefore it would stay and continue to do so. What they did with it, he didn't know. Benjamin cared for little else in the world as he held Maisie in his arms for the first time in twenty-five years.

As the creature was carried out sleepily in the arms of scientists, it stared over their arms to look through the glass and stare directly at the young pink life-form lovely held in the arms of The Father. Dark brown eyes glittered open and stared right back at him. He chittered softly, but she made no reply. All she did was weakly reach out with her hand. He mirrored the gesture, extending his claws in her direction as if to meet her across the growing distance between them. And then, his jailors carried him around the corner and she was out of sight. Already the world felt cold.

"What is this thing?" he heard a voice, the thing who was carrying him, said.

The other one shrugged. "Moroe mentioned something about an _Indoraptor…"_


	2. Chapter 2

_March 13_ _th_ _, 2011_

Maisie hated it when she had to go to the doctors downstairs. They always poked at her and pinched her. Their needles always hurt and one of them didn't even care that it scared her. She hated it when _that_ doctor was there. Most times she was too busy, doing something boring Maisie bet. But it kept her away from the girl, it was always when she thought to come look at Maisie herself that things never ended nice. Maisie liked it when the other doctor, Mr nice-smile (that wasn't his name, but she liked his smile), came to give her the medicine she needed. It still hurt, the needles always hurt. But he knew it scared her, how even looking at the needle made her feel sick and start to panic. So he was kind, and he made her look away as he told her stories while giving her the medicine. Sometimes she could even get through it without crying. But Dr Moroe (Maisie always remembered _her_ name with the same petrified fear she held for the boogie man in her closet) was never nice, she wasn't gentle, and she didn't tell her stories. Maisie once asked her to be nice, that she didn't like it, but Moroe only told her to stop being 'fussy' and drove the needle in harder. Maisie had almost fainted twice when in Moroe's hands.

She'd tried to tell her Grandpa, for he would set Moroe straight, she knew it. Grandpa was always soft in his touches and his voice, and Maisie always felt safe and loved in his arms. But she'd seen when he'd get angry with some of the people that worked in the house. When someone broke something, or one person who'd tried to steal a watch! His voice had always been quiet, Grandpa never shouted, but the cold anger was scary enough – in a cool kind of way. So Maisie had wanted him to use that voice, the voice that had made people shrivel up in their shoes, on Dr Moroe. But when she told him, all he said was: "You need the medicine, Maisie. You just need to ignore it and then it will all be fine."

But it didn't get fine. So Maisie tried to not go down to the doctors as much as she could. She tried to keep it secret when the aches in her bones started, she would try to act all energetic when all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep, she would even block her nose up with tissues when the nosebleeds started. All that only ended her up in more trouble. Uncle Mills found her out once. Usually it was Iris, her annoying nanny, that followed her round everywhere – and she always told Grandpa the moment she discovered it, after marching Maisie downstairs to the basement first. But when Uncle Mills saw her trying to hide it, he just gave her a look, and Maisie thought he'd tell Grandpa. But instead, he took her downstairs and told her he wouldn't tell Grandpa about this so long as she promised to no longer hide it. Maisie had promised – but it was a promise she struggled to keep sometimes.

Soon she'd be three – she'd be a big girl, she didn't see why she should have to go to the doctors. But Grandpa always said she needed to, to stay healthy. It was usually just a check up and an injection, and Maisie was left feeling alright in an hour. Sometimes she wondered if it was all fake, like when she found out the toothfairy wasn't real last week!

The table was really cold on her bum, even through her jeans as she sat on it. It wasn't very comfortable, the edge of it dug into the back of her knees. Thankfully, it was Mr nice-smile seeing her today. Maisie felt wobbly and held onto the IV pole next to her. She looked away as Mr nice-smile put the needle in her other arm, telling her a story about his dog. Maisie found those stories boring. She'd never seen a dog – Iris wouldn't let her have one because it would need too much attention. She liked it when Mr nice-smiles would tell her stories about dragons and adventures. She was smart enough to know he was telling her about movies, but she liked it. Once he was done, he told her to sit still and wait until the medicine was settled, then she'd be allowed to go back up.

Mr nice-smile took out the IV and left her alone in the room whilst he took her blood sample away to another room – probably to Dr Moroe. Maisie sat, tapping her heels together where they hung over the side of the table. Her stomach was starting to feel better, but she was bored.

A noise, a crash and a loud swear word. Iris would definitely not like those words, she'd threaten to wash that man's mouth out with soap if she heard it. Maisie strained to see through the windows leading out into the hallway, curious to see what all the fuss was about. But she couldn't see anything. Glancing at the other door, she wondered if Mr nice-smiles would come back… all she wanted was a little look.

Drawn by the noises, Maisie hopped down off the table, wobbling slightly on impact. Grandpa said she learned a lot of things late as a baby. Crawling, walking, talking, but she'd made up for it with how much she learned so quickly. He didn't say why she was late, exactly, all he said was that she 'liked to take her time'. Maisie didn't feel that way, she always wanted everything to happen _now_. So it was hard to balance sometimes, but she recovered quickly. As quietly as she could, she pushed open the door and stepped into the hallway. More voices sounded from around the corner. Tiptoeing, she scooted close to the wall, noticing another large window that she might be able to peek inside. Hooking her fingertips on the edge, she carefully poked her eyes over the lip to see inside the room.

It was a metal room not unlike the Doctors' room. There was a metal table in the middle, just like in the Doctors, and on the wall were hung an assortment of strange things. A metal cage was on the far wall, like from a dog-pound on the TV. Two men were stood in front of the cage, one shaking his hand and hissing.

"Damned thing almost took my hand off!" one snarled. "It's bloody Jack the Ripper!"

"That scratch barely grazed you," grumbled the other. "Let's get the tranq darts. We need to clean out that cage."

The two men began to head towards the door. The first one grumbling under his breath. "Little monster deserves to rot in his own filth."

They burst out of the door and Maisie pressed herself against the wall. She didn't move. They didn't see her. They walked away down the hall. Maisie made sure to check they were gone, biting her lip with excitement. Was Grandpa keeping a pet here? Was it a present? A surprise? She couldn't resist and slipped inside.

Scratching and scuffling noises could be heard from inside the long dark cage. She recognised one noise: hay scraping against a surface. They had a henhouse outside with twelve chickens, so Maisie was used to their sounds. But she didn't recognise the shivering hiccup noises. It sounded bird-like… maybe? Maisie crept closer, trying to see into the shadows at the back of the cage. She didn't know why, but something told her to be careful, to go slowly, her heartbeat started to go faster… She came right up to the bars, squinting to try and see. The strong horrible smell of animal waste stung her nose. There was a movement, a shift in the shadows. Something scuttled forward, a scrap of something sharp against the metal floor.

A head moved into the light. Maisie couldn't hold back her gasp.

It was a dinosaur. But not like any she'd ever seen. It crawled on all fours, but its back legs were so long that it's hips stuck up in the air. It had sickle claws on each back foot, and its front feet looked like hands – it even had thumbs. Its head was long and slightly rounded on the snout, with lots of pointy teeth ticking out of its lipless mouth. Its scales were as black as night, except for a stripe of warm gold that ran from the corners of its mouth all the way along its body to its tail. It stared at her through the bars of the cage with gold eyes that seemed to glow up at her, studying her face.

Iris had always tried to get Maisie into princesses and fairies. She said that's what a girl her age should love. And Maisie did like those things, yes, but of all of things, she loved most dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and monsters and dragons. She had a whole set of dinosaur toys she liked to play with, and she even had a tattered old book that she loved to look through just because of the pictures. Her Grandpa had smiled kindly, as if he knew she would love them, and begun to tell her stories of dinosaurs when he tucked her into bed at night. So, when she was faced with the creature in the cage, she was under no delusions as to what it might be. There was only one explanation. Grandpa had finally answered her wish! She had her very own dinosaur!

"Hello," she said quietly, trying to be stealthy in case the men came back, but unable to contain her beaming smile. "What are you? My name is Maisie – I does live here. Now you do too! What's your name?"

Obviously, the creature in the cage said nothing. It tilted its head at her as she talked. Did it like her voice? Maisie hoped so! She had no one to talk to, and all the adults were so boring – except for Grandpa. She wanted so badly to reach in and pet the dinosaur (a real-life dinosaur in her house!), but Iris had warned her about sticking her fingers in cages. She'd done that once with the chicken-coop, and one of them had given her a nasty peck. Yet as if sensing her thoughts, the dinosaur shifted his body so that he could grip the bars of the cage and poked his other arm through them. He reached out towards her, huge hand with long sickle claws stretching towards Maisie but coming just short of touching the strands of her hair that had fallen over her shoulder.

"Does you want a cuddle?" Maisie asked. She hesitantly reached out and touched his scales. He was surprisingly warm. Not cold or slimy like Iris told her dinosaurs were like. She patted the back of his hand, and the creature inside the cage cooed. It flexed its fingers as if it wanted to touch her back. "What's your name?" Maisie asked. She tried to remember what the men had said before they left. "Is your name Jack? I would call you Blackiesaurus, but if your name's Jack then that's fine too."

Jack (or Blackiesaurus) tilted his head in an odd way that Maisie found to be a little funny. She would have giggled, but then Jack's head snapped towards the door and he hissed. Maisie turned, fearing someone was behind her, but there wasn't. And then she heard the voices of the two men coming down the hall! She gasped. No, no, no! She was in so much trouble if she got caught! She tried to stand up, to run back to Mr nice-smile's office. But suddenly her jumper snagged on something and yanked her back. Maisie yelped, and looked down to find Jack's claws tugging on her clothes in a firm grip. She pulled back, trying to get free – those men would be here any minute!

"Let go!" she hissed and pulled again. "I have to get out before they come back!"

Jack suddenly released her, and Maisie fell to the floor with a shriek. She didn't cry or say something angry like she wanted to. The men would be here any second! She picked herself up and ran for the door. Jack gave out a long shriek after her, like he was calling for her to come back. Maisie felt a little guilt, but instantly forgot about it in the excitement of a secret promise her heart made – she'd come back! Later, when no one was watching! The thought kept her smiling as she slid back into Mr nice-smile's office. The Dr wasn't even here, she hadn't been spotted!

* * *

"Mills!"

Eli looked up from his desk at the foreign doctor. Moroe stood poised, as if ready to spring, and Eli could already feel a headache coming on. "What is it now, Moroe? I'm a little busy."

"It's the asset–"

"The Indoraptor?" Eli frowned.

They'd only had the thing a year and it was already causing problems. He had constant complaints from the staff he assigned to look after it. Nobody wanted anything to do with it. Feeders and cleaners told tales of their arms almost being sliced to ribbons, and even the scientists meant to look after and study it spoke about the monster's temper tantrums that usually left someone with a nasty bite. Thankfully, the creature was still small enough that those bites or slashes weren't serious injuries – yet. As it was, Eli was struggling to come up with a more permanent solution the problem, because it wouldn't be long before the staff would want guarantees for their safety. The only up-side the Indoraptor had brought with its existence so far, was that treatments created through its blood were not only keeping Maisie alive, but also keeping her in excellent health. A cure had still not been figured out for the inherent disease in the Lockwood family, but Moroe kept saying she was 'close'.

"Tell your minions they should be able to handle their own Frankenstein whilst I arrange something a little more long-lasting." He said. "I'll admit, Dr Moroe, this asset isn't quite what I was promised."

The woman looked down her nose at him. "You asked for a solution to–"

"Yes, but a creature that was as _expensive_ to make as this one should be able to give me a return investment!" he snapped and fixed the geneticist with a scalding look. "Even if you'd been bothered to make the cure, I can't sell it – it's too small!"

"That is because it is still an infant," Moroe shot back.

"Well, Henry Wu's creations never take this long to mature. Is this the reason you've always been second best to him?"

Moroe bristled with such volcanic fury, Eli thought her head would burst. He could see it took all her self-control for her words to be calm in the face of his words that had struck too close to home. "It's the human DNA. It may have mucked up the coding to grow slower. It may take a few more years, but it will get to the size you were originally hoping for."

Eli shivered. It had been his idea, him and Moroe conspiring in the dark, but still the implications of what they'd done… it gave him the creeps. "Then I suggest you use that time to do your research thoroughly. Mr Lockwood wants a cure, but I would like something a little more profitable at the end of this." He went back to his paperwork, content to ignore the Dr until she went away. But she didn't. She planted her hands on his desk so that he couldn't ignore her. "You're still here?"

"I didn't come here to argue. I came to show you something."

Before he could reply that he wasn't in the mood for her unusual brand of flirting, she was already pushing him out the way as she came up beside him and began to type into his computer commands. She brought up the security feeds, and Eli's frown grew deeper as she brought up something very specific.

"I was looking through lab results when I spotted this," and she hit play.

The video was of the room containing Indoraptor's cage. He saw the two men on duty to clean out its muck leave the room with the door opened. Eli thought to himself crankily that he'd have to seriously reprimand the men for slacking off. But in the next moment, his heart dropped into his stomach as he saw a familiar little figure wander into the room.

"Maisie?!" he startled, jaw dropping open with mounting horror as he watched her inch closer to the cage. He whirled on Moroe. "You let her get near that thing and–"

"It happened half an hour ago. The girl's fine. Now watch."

Mills looked back to the screen, biting his cheek as he watched Maisie get closer and closer to the bars of the cage. Sweat was building at the back of his neck. If anything happened to her, he knew old Lockwood would have his head. Eli couldn't afford any mistakes, he couldn't afford to lose his place as Lockwood's heir. Not when his plans were starting to take shape. His eyes grew huge as he saw the Indoraptor reach its arm through the bars to reach for the little girl – surely to tear her to pieces. And then… Maisie just patted it? She pet it like a dog, a smile on her face. The moment was interrupted by something outside the room that the camera didn't pick up. Maisie tried to leave but the Indoraptor snagged its claws on her clothes and tried to keep her there. Eli knew it had the strength – even at such a young age – to hold Maisie if it really wanted, but instead it released her. Maisie sprinted out of the room, not a moment before the two keepers came back in, with the Indoraptor snarling at them menacingly from its cage.

"It's demeanour completely changed," Moroe said, a hint of excitement in her voice. The kind of excitement that only occurred in her when she was on the brink of some new crazy idea for an experiment. "In the whole year, it has not once responded to our keepers. We've tried imprinting and all other types of empathy-inducing responses as Mr Grady's research indicates. Nothing. This thing is not interested. But for her?"

"What are you getting at?" Eli asked testily, trying to calm his heart from the shock of what he just saw.

"Let me see how far this goes. The opportunity to study how the brain works when–"

"Absolutely not." Eli said and stood up fast so as to cut off any further argument. "Maisie is not just our employer's _granddaughter,_ she is a commodity that we cannot afford to jeopardise. Do I make myself clear?"

Before Moroe could argue, he swept out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Maisie crept down the stairs, her dressing-gown tied tight around her. She knew she wasn't supposed to be up, Grandpa and Iris would be very angry with her if they found out. But she'd been bursting with excitement all evening! On the main floor of the house, towards the back behind the main staircase, she found the door that would lead down into the basement levels. She tried the handle but it wouldn't budge. Shifting from foot to foot, she tried to think – if it was locked, how would she get to Jack?

She wondered around, trying to find another door down. But there were none. The dark was beginning to frighten her. The moonlight was very bright outside, but the entire forest-full of trees that surrounded the house made creepy shadows to appear in the windows and every time they moved it made her want to run back to bed.

A little door in the wall of the kitchen caught her attention. Pulling up a chair so she could stand on it, Maisie slid the door up to open it. Inside she found a little box room with a rope in the middle. Iris said what this was once. She'd been trying to tell Maisie about how the Manor used to be run years ago in the old-days, and it had been so boring. This was what people used to use to put laundry and other things in to carry them to different levels of the house – like a mini elevator. Maisie wondered if it would go all the way down to the bottom of the house? She clambered in, and held onto the rope. She tugged it, and the mini-elevator jerked upwards a little. Oops, wrong direction. She pulled on the other one, and it helpfully moved downwards. Maisie pulled on the rope, one hand after the other, and slowly the mini-elevator went down and down.

The further down she went, Maisie noticed the sliding doors on every level. When she finally found a level that she recognised, she slid the door all the way open and slipped out. The floor down here was super-cold on her feet, her toes were beginning to ache. She hopped along, hoping if she moved fast enough then they'd get warm again. Burying herself further in her fluffy dressing-gown, she drew on it for warmth.

She found the room again. The door wasn't locked – none of the doors were, probably because they didn't think anyone would be down here. When she stepped in, the movement-activated lights flickered on, allowing her enough light to see by. The room was still a little creepy, though. Cold clung to every surface, and there was nothing warm or nice about the room at all. Did Jack like it in here? Or was her Blackiesaurus shivering in the night? Maybe she should bring him a blanket tomorrow…

A chittering-hiccup noise came from the cage, and Jack pressed his face close to the bars. He peered at her with his big golden eyes, as if he was surprised to see her here. Maisie grinned at him, holding up a finger to her lips and whispered loudly "Shhhhh!" She knelt in front of the cage, grinning at him. "I thought you was lonely. And I couldn't sleep – I'm a big girl, Iris shouldn't tell me when to go to bed."

Jack shivered his jaws, making garbling noises back at her in response to her voice. Maisie dug her hand inside the pocket of her dressing-gown and pulled out a bundle of napkins. She unwrapped it and proudly display her prize: a bit of roast beef and a cupcake!

"I did save you some from dinner," she told him, smiling. "You'll like it! Chocolate's my favourite!"

She pushed the offerings through the bars of the cage. Jack made a loud shrill noise that hurt Maisie's ears. And then he was snatching at the food. The beef he shook and tore into before gulping it down. The cupcake he initially went to swallow whole, but paused… and then proceeded to cough and heave, until he spat a mushy crumbly pile onto the floor.

"Gross!" Maisie squealed. Jack seemed to have the same idea, shoving away the disgusting pile of cake with his foot. He shoved his snout against the bars, looking for more to eat. Maisie held up her hands to show she had nothing left to give. Jack rumbled like a baby grumpy to not have another treat and pulled back.

He stepped into the corner of the cage, deep in the shadows. Maisie watched him as he turned, rather awkwardly considering the cramped space of his home, and then he laid down. His tail was curled over his hands, and he rested his chin on top. His golden eyes drooped.

"You tired?" Maisie asked, and fought back a yawn of her own. "Me too. I come back tomorrow, okay?"

Jack did nothing but give a small whispering noise, like a quiet goodbye. Maisie gave him one last look, before she turned and retraced her steps back towards the mini-elevator.

* * *

The Indoraptor watched her leave from underneath his eyelids. His mind ticked over the developments of the day.

He'd found her. She was here. After he'd spent a year alone in this place, where he was in the cold and the others came by often to prod him and poke him with their sharp needles. He hated them all. He wanted to tear them apart with his claws and gnaw on their bones. They were cruel creatures: he dreamed of a ball of light in the sky that offered warmth and brightness to his scales. But he'd never seen it. His legs were always tense, his muscles were cramped and hard. He wanted to run, to stretch. But he wasn't allowed. All thanks to them. And he was _insufferably_ bored.

But now _she_ was here.

He was beginning to think that the stress of hatching had addled his mind, that he'd made it up. But no. He knew he'd been right. He'd smelled her down here from time to time. Just a whiff, not strong enough to memorise, but enough to know she was close. But she'd never come to him until now. Now she was here, she'd found him, and instantly he felt the boredom lift. In her he recognised the scent and mapped it to his brain so that he would know her anywhere. Her scent was so strange, yet there was something so uniquely similar to his own. He could sense sickness in her, but it wasn't too strong, not yet. On occasion he smelt the sickness in himself, but his body naturally overcame it. Was hers not? Such weakness would need to be watched closely in the future.

Yet there was no mistaking the element in her unique smell, the one that was reflected in his own, the one that connected them together. He'd known it in his mind the instant he'd smelled her, the piece fixing into place automatically.

 _Sister_ …

His sister. _His_. She'd found him and had come to liberate him from boredom. In the darkness of the cage, he swore that he wouldn't let her leave him again. They'd spent a year apart and that was unfair. It wouldn't happen again. He'd kill anyone who dared to try separating them a second time.


	3. Chapter 3

_March 20_ _th_ _, 2011_

Maisie had been trying to sneak away from Iris all day. Why was it so much harder than usual? Iris had been keeping a close eye on the girl the last couple of days, and Maisie was scared to think she might suspect something. Usually, Maisie had no problem getting away from her boring nanny, Iris just thought she was playing hide and seek and would search all round the huge house. But today, she was trying to keep her close at hand. And under no circumstances would she let her go outside. Maisie didn't understand any of this, and it was getting very annoying.

Her chance finally came after lunch, when Iris wanted her to have 'quiet time'. Maisie was expected to relax and maybe watch a film in the entertainment room, a chance for her mind to level out and let her stomach settle after eating. Also it was so that Iris could get a break from the over-active little girl and have a chance to read her current book. But Iris never got very far – by page 3 she was already nodding off to sleep. Maisie made sure she was out but flicking a grape from the fruit bowl at her. No response. Heart quickening with excitement, she left the television running so the background noise would keep Iris asleep, and tiptoed out of the room.

Considering the fact that she did actually like to play hide and seek, Maisie knew she was the ultimate champion of the house. So she knew how to move through the corridors and rooms whilst avoiding all the people who worked in the house. It wasn't like she had to go far. At the end of the corridor outside her bedroom, was the little door in the wall that led to the mini elevator. Maisie had brought it up here last night when she'd snuck back into bed. Going down to the basement during the day was much riskier than at night – there were more people around who might see her. But she was too excited to wait until tonight. And besides, she wanted to see if Jack could play today. She was getting sick of him sitting behind the bars in his cage.

She'd sneaking down to see him every night for the past week. It was like she was a hero out of a movie, keeping this big secret to herself and having an animal friend. Jack always seemed happy to see her, but she had the feeling that he was getting a little short-tempered. He'd always be scratching at the padlock on his cage, trying to break it open. Maisie had tried to find the key – honestly, she had! – but she couldn't find it anywhere. And she didn't know what would happen if she did let him out. She wanted to, she wanted to be able to pet him and play with him, but what if someone noticed the cage had been opened? How much trouble would she be in? It was only last three days ago that Maisie had accidentally found a stash of Easter-eggs hidden in a cupboard in the pantry. She hadn't even done it on purpose but Iris had given her a proper scolding for spoiling the surprise. Mills had tried to smooth things over: he'd explained that the Easter bunny had dropped off the eggs ahead of time because he was very busy this year to hide them himself. He'd also said how bad it was when nosey little children spoiled their surprises when they went snooping around. So, would Maisie get in trouble now? To her, it was obvious that Grandpa wanted Jack to be a surprise for her birthday, but her birthday was ages away. If she got caught seeing him, would she be told off again for spoiling the surprise?

But if she didn't come to see Jack, he'd be all alone… and so would she. Maisie wasn't allowed to go to nursery – or _kindergarten,_ as the Americans called it. And every time she asked about when she'd go to big-school, her Grandpa would always say that she was too special for a mundane school, she could learn everything in the world right here with him. Maisie did take that as a compliment, but… she also wanted to go make friends. She'd never really had a friend. No one else in the mansion had kids to bring to play with her. Jack was all she had. Even if she had to sneak around until her birthday, she was going to see him. And when her birthday finally got here, she would just act _really_ surprised.

Finally, she reached the level she needed. Five nights ago, she'd gotten the levels mixed up and gotten lost. The night after, she managed to snatch up a knife from the kitchen and had put marks on secret corners of the doors, so she'd know which one was which. Sliding them open so she could peek out, Maisie made sure the coast was clear. Slowly, she climbed out, and made her way along to Jack's room, always ready to duck if she heard or saw anyone coming. Even if down here there were fewer good places to hide.

Footsteps echoed along the metal walkways up ahead. Maisie gasped and dove down behind a stack of crates. It was the worst hiding place, but it was the only one closest to her. Voices came with the footsteps, and as they got closer, Maisie thought she recognised one of them. Not knowing if she should, she peeked around the edge to try and catch a glimpse.

"…paid monthly with an already secured bonus to cover any treatment should you be injured in any capacity." Came the voice of Mr Mills, who was walking down the metal bridge right towards Maisie's hiding place. Next to him was another man, and Mills was talking to him with his 'business-face' on. Usually Mills was soft and warm when he spoke to her, even if he could be a little distant at times. But when he had his 'business-face' on, he turned cold and hard, and his face never moved as if an ice queen had frozen it in a permanent scowl of disapproval. "In return, we demand that you never speak to anyone of what transpires in this house. No matter what you see, hear or learn of, it is _not_ to leave these walls. Should you violate this agreement, Mr Lockwood will find it incredibly easy to not only sue you of whatever money you have, but to discredit your working-reputation permanently. Ingen's cover up of the first Nublar incident pales in comparison to what our lawyers are prepared to do."

The pair stopped right outside Jack's room, and Maisie managed to get a good look at the new man. He was tall, at least a little taller than Mills. He had short-cut bright orange hair, like a carrot, With a single scar running from the corner of his mouth to the bottom of his chin. He seemed to have a 'business-face' on as well, for she couldn't tell if he was happy or scared or anything. When the man spoke, it was in a voice with an accent that reminded Maisie of the old show she sometimes watched on the Discovery Channel – the crocodile hunter! "No need to worry about that. Ya boys did their research. I got no one to spill the beans to anyway."

"You've come highly recommended. I was told you're able to tame some of the most dangerous animals on the planet. That means I have high expectations."

"Where I come from, ya live with the wildlife or ya die," said the carrot-haired stranger. "Sharks, crocs, snakes, cats, wolves; I've done it all before. Nothing ya got's gonna surprise me."

"I'm pretty sure I can…"

The two stepped through the door into Jack's room. Maisie dared to poke her head above the sill and peak through the thick glass window. When the door closed, sound was muffled, but Maisie could still hear the new man yell when he saw Jack for the first time. Her Blackiesaurus looked the man up and down from behind his bars and gave a low rumbling sound.

The new man looked startled from the cage to Mills. "What in the bloody hell is–?!"

"This, Mr Lisle," Mills said smoothly, "is your new project. A creature made by the miracle of science. We call it, the Indoraptor."

Maisie felt her eyebrows rise at hearing Jack's real name. An Indoraptor? Well, she preferred Blackiesaurus, but if that was what he was…

The ginger man – Lisle – seemed to lose his fear and crept closer to the cage. He crouched far enough away that if Jack were to stretch his long arm through the bars, he still wouldn't be able to reach him. "A dinosaur… Thought they was all on that island next to them stinking Ticos. Big boy… ugly looking bugger, ain't he?"

Through the window, Maisie scowled at the man. She didn't understand some of his words, but the way he said them made her believe it wasn't very nice. And no one got to call her Jack ugly! As if agreeing with her, Jack let out a loud hiss as Lisle went to hold out his hand to the cage.

"The Indoraptor is exclusively ours, there's no other animal in the world like it." Mills said with a hint of pride. "You'll be his keeper. You'll be responsible for feeding it, making sure its cage is clean, making sure it is exercised and also that it is properly disciplined. Several of my members of staff have complained about threats to their safety. I trust you have the backbone to put it in its place?"

Lisle stood, staring down at Jack. "Ya got no fear of that, mate."

"Careful," Mills warned. "As an employee, you'll be expected to show proper respect to your superiors. Also, there's one more thing…"

Their voices lowered not to whispers, but just quiet enough that Maisie couldn't hear their muffled words through the glass. The two nodded back and forth, Mills seemed to be telling Lisle something important, and Maisie was desperate to know what. But then, they broke apart, and the two stepped outside the door. Maisie ducked back down behind her crates before she could be spotted.

"…You'll be reporting directly to Dr Moroe," Mills was saying, "She's in charge of monitoring the Indoraptor's development and keeping track of when it's needed for her treatments. I believe her first demand will be to have you test its manoeuvrability."

"It'll need to be able to respond to basic commands first."

"Then I'll leave that up to you. Welcome aboard, Sean Lisle." And with that, Mills turned on his heel and walked away. Sean watched him go, before ducking back into the room.

Through the window, Maisie watched, as Mr Lisle came right up to the cage, sorting through a set of keys in his hands. Jack watched him intently, and Lisle watched him back. He slid the key into the lock, but before he could turn it, Jack's arm launched out as if to swipe at the man's arm. Lisle jumped back, avoiding the claws that tried to swipe at him. Lisle didn't look mad though, like Maisie thought he would, instead he looked like he expected this. As if it were planned, he went over and began to sort through the various strange-looking tools hanging on the walls. He picked up what looked like a long fishing pole with a noose on one end. Next was brought down a huge roll of duct tape, and some strange clamp-like things. Mr Lisle came back towards Jack's cage, dropping the duct tape and clamps on the metal table behind him. Jack looked uneasily at the contraptions and growled. Mr Lisle didn't pay any attention to the unhappy noise, and poked the noose-end of the stick through the bars. Jack shied away from it, wary, but Lisle jabbed it closer and closer. When Jack tripped to swipe his claws at it, Lisle pulled it away just out of reach. Unable to get at it, Jack snarled with frustration and snapped his teeth at it.

The moment his head came too close, Lisle slipped the noose over Jack's head. The cord pulled tight around Jack's neck. The Indoraptor screeched and began to thrash from side to side, claws going up to his neck to try and pull himself loose. Teeth gritted, Lisle yanked on the pole, dragging Jack with him, with such force that Jack's snout was rammed through the bars. A loud _CLANG_ echoed through the room where the metal echoed the force of the blow. Jack was momentarily dazed.

Maisie had to clamp her hands over her mouth to stop herself from crying out. He was _hurting_ her Jack!

Using the moment, Lisle dashed for the table and snatched up the duct tape. He reached through the bars and began to tape Jack's mouth shut. He wound the tape round and round Jack's large snout, the harsh sound of the tape being yanked onto his scales horrifying the little girl that looked on. Jack came to his senses half way through, and noticing that he couldn't open his jaws, began to pull and struggle in blind panic. His screams were muffled, but the force of his growls was loud enough to make the glass in front of Maisie vibrate. His claws came up to try and scratch off the tape, but they instead caught hold of Lisle's arm.

The man screeched, pulling his arm back to reveal a short cut. Maisie gasped at the sight of blood. It wasn't much, but still! Lisle said something in a menacing voice low enough that Maisie couldn't hear it, but she knew he was swearing by the look on his face. Viciously, he picked up the stick and slammed it against the bars. Metal rang against metal, making a horrible loud noise. Jack shrieked, even with his mouth shut, shaking his head as if the noise hurt his ears. Lisle picked up the clamp, and dove for one of Jack's hands as it went to grab hold of the bars. It slipped on like a boxing glove, with one end like a handcuff that Lisle secured to the bars. Jack found himself trapped again and tried to pull his arm free, but couldn't. Deeming him now incapacitated, Lisle stood to his full height, panting.

He turned around and walked out of the room, looking over his injured arm, a grimace marring the triumphant smile on his face. "Nasty little freak," he muttered, walking in the direction of the infirmary.

The moment he was gone, Maisie bolted out of her hiding place on shaking legs. Tears were streaming down her face. She wanted a grownup, she wanted her grandpa! But he wasn't here! She was so upset, she wanted to cry so much, but Jack needed her. She threw open the door, and the moment that she came into the room, Jack's golden eyes lit up and he began to throw himself around all the harder. Maisie tried to wipe away her tears so she could see well enough. The key was very stiff for her little fingers as she tried to turn it. The tears came harder – oh why did that new man have to do this, it wasn't nice, it wasn't fair! And then, she heard the loud click of the lock as it turned. Then, the door swung open on noisy hinges, and Maisie might've panicked that someone had heard her but she right now was too upset to notice. Seeing the door open and her coming in, Jack began to scrabble around frantically.

"Jack," Maisie whimpered, "Please hold still – I-I just want to get it off…"

For the past week, she'd been touching his hands when he poked them through the bars, and she hadn't had a care in the world. But seeing him make blood on a man – even if it was an accident – frightened her a little bit. She knew in her heart that he wouldn't hurt her, but what if he did? Yet seeing him like this was only making her heart cry harder. So, she knew what she had to do.

Her fingers fiddled around to try and find the catch that would release the clamp on his hand. But with him stomping around and moving, he was constantly jostling her. Maisie wanted at one point to duck away in fright, but persistently kept going. Then, finally, she felt something come loose, and then the clamp slid off. Before she could think to reach up for the duct-tape, Jack stumbled away from the bars, snarling loudly. His shoulder collided with her, sending the little girl stumbling back, her chest hurting from the bruising force. Jack reached up, and scraped his claws along his face to try and catch the tape. He even left little cuts when one or two claws dug in a little too hard! His feet staggered towards her, and Maisie yelped and scrambled out of the cage to escape. She turned around, and gasped to see Jack had followed her out!

Underneath the overhead-lights, she could see just how big he was. When he was stood on all-fours, he was about as tall as her chest, but when he leant back on his hind legs, he towered over her. His long tail lashed behind him, the gold stripe flashing in the light. Suddenly, she heard a loud _SHHHHHHHHHHREEEEECCCHHH!_ And the tape came off. It fell to the floor, and Maisie looked _up_ as Jack grew to his full height, back and neck stretched to look down his nose at her with bright and blazing eyes.

* * *

Dr Moroe searched through all her files, her brows furrowing in frustration as she tried to find the link in her research. Not the research for the Lockwoods – that was over on her desk, beneath a ton of paperwork. No, this was her personal research, her _magnum opus_ that she'd been working on since leaving university. She was _this_ close to cracking it, all she had to do was find a missing element in the equation. But no matter what she tried, she hit road-block after road-block. The answer had to be here somewhere – was it in the formula? Or perhaps her calculations on chemical imbalances was off… No! She knew she had all the relevant data. But why wouldn't it work? She knew why. She didn't have the sufficient resources to test her findings. It's what had gotten her branded by almost every scientific institution in the world; for who would subject human testing on her research?

She blamed it all on Henry Wu, of course. They'd attended the same university, mentored under the same brilliant professor, and left with the exact same marks. Yet he was heralded as the greatest mind in genetic-engineering, and she was left in the dirt. _All his fault!_

Her mind was distracted for a moment when a bleep came from her computer. Glancing up, she noticed it was a report from the camera feeds. She clicked on it, and her eyes widened in shock.

Somewhere in her peripheral, the door opened, someone bustled in and the door closed again. But she did not look up, or hardly take any notice at all. Somehow, she was aware of Eli standing in front of her desk, but still didn't look up.

"Moroe, I want to discuss what progress you've made," Eli was saying. "Your last report didn't show much of anything, and Maisie's health has not improved."

"It's been stable for the past six months!" Moroe snapped, but still didn't look away from her screen.

"But it hasn't improved!" Eli retorted. "You do realise that this is about more than the girl, right? If we don't have a cure, then it won't be long before we're looking at Mr Lockwood–" suddenly a buzzing came from his pocket. He growled as he fished it out. "Mills here. Iris? What're you… Calm down, and just… No, I haven't seen her. You're the nanny. Do your job correctly or I'll find someone who'll–" there came an indignant shriek from the other end of the phone. Mills muttered something to himself, and tried to grab the Dr's attention. "We are not done here, I expect… No! Not you, Iris, I'm talking to… Damn it, Moroe! Look at me when I'm speaking to you!"

Moroe did not. She couldn't look away. Finally realising her attention was fixated elsewhere, Eli shuffled around the desk to peer over her shoulder. She felt his breath freeze beside her ear. They both watched the camera footage of Maisie in the Indoraptor's cell, the beast out of its cage and towering over her.

Eli let loose a wordless shriek, dropped the phone, and bolted for the door!

* * *

Maisie staggered back, unable to take her wide eyes away from the dinosaur above her. Her heart was pounding, she couldn't get enough air, she was going to sc–

Jack dropped down to all fours, his wide hand and long claws splayed out over the tiled floor. His big rounded-head pushed closer to Maisie's, the puff of putrid breath from blowing in her face when he sniffed at her. A rumble was in his chest, and his jaws shivered with a clatter of pointed teeth. Despite the fact that she used to be unafraid, Maisie wondered if he would actually hurt her. Those teeth were very close, and Jack hadn't been acting nicely. And yet he didn't try to bite her or shove her again. Instead he just watched her, inspected her, studied her.

More than anything, Maisie wanted a grownup here to tell her if she was safe or not. When she'd met the chickens for the first time, she'd wanted to put them. But the birds hadn't acted very nicely, trying to peck at Maisie's fingers when she came close. But their keeper had told her to approach slow and gentle and she'd be okay. A grownup always knew what to do in situations like this. But Maisie didn't have a grownup here. She was the one in charge. So, she did the only thing she could think to do – she reached up to pet him.

The Indoraptor looked like he didn't know how he should react when Maisie's little fingers reached up and scratched at the scales on the side of his neck. His teeth snapped, but not in a nasty way. And then, after a moment, he began to relax. And as he did, Maisie felt her fear melting away to be replaced by a smile. A deep purr vibrated out of him, and he leaned closer to sniff at Maisie's shoulder. He tilted his head as if he were thinking very hard for a moment. Then, he pushed closer, and began to rub his head on Maisie's shoulder. Back and forth, he wiped his dribble-covered teeth and the line of his chin onto her arm and then across her chest. Maisie grimaced as his foul smell washed up into her face. She was pretty sure she would stink to if he didn't stop.

 _BANG!_

The door burst open, and Mr Lisle came storming in. Jack and Maisie were startled, the Indoraptor shrieking and hissing savagely. He splayed his claws, the sickle toes pulled up and ready to attack. Lisle swore and reached for a long pole, that when he flicked a switch, electricity zapped at the end. It crackled so loudly that even Maisie was frightened of the strange object. She wanted to run away from it, and on instinct tried to drag Jack with her. The dinosaur hissed and wouldn't budge. His golden eyes looked like they were glowing as he glared at Mr Lisle.

"Girly!" Mr Lisle shouted, and Jack snarled and shook his head as if he didn't like the loud noise. "Get away from that beast! It'll take ya arm off!"

"No." Maisie whimpered when the pole tried to crackle at Jack, trying to push him back towards the cage. Jack didn't seem to have the instinctive fear of the lightning tip that the little girl did.

"Maisie!" came several shouts, and then all kinds of grown ups were trying to run into the room. There was Mr Mills, two men in lab coats, and then there were two security-men that was always patrolling outside, and they were holding up _guns!_ All the people, all the adults trying to tell her what to do, Maisie became completely confused and frightened, none of it made sense. And the more noise everyone made the more Jack was screeching loudly. The Indoraptor looked like he wanted to jump up and run or fight everyone out of the room, but he kept looking at how many men there were crowding in.

"Maisie!" came Mr Mills' sharp voice. "You need to come to me right now – right now! You're gonna get hurt!"

But the little girl was unable to respond, tears streaming down her face. The men were pointing their guns at Jack, more people were shouting. She wanted to hide from them all. So she turned and buried her face in Jack's shoulder. The Indoraptor looked down at her, then at the men, his eyes twitching manically. Then, he made a high-pitched whine, and suddenly twitsed himself so it was _him_ hiding behind _Maisie_. The men in the room looked confused, for they hadn't expected that – Maisie herself hadn't expected that. Jack huddled behind her, as if he could squash himself to fit inside her shadow. He made low, almost whimpering noises. He almost sounded like he was sorry, to Maisie, but if he wanted to be sorry, then why did she think his eyes looked so sharp?

"Maise…" Mills was saying in a softer voice. "Come on, sweetie, it's time to go. We need to go see your grandfather now."

Maisie felt her heart quicken with fear – No! She'd be told off for ruining the surprise! And then she'd be told off _again_ for letting Jack out of his cage! But she needed her grandfather, she wanted someone to tell her everything was going to be alright and give her a hug.

Mills was beckoning her towards him. "Come on, now, it's alright. You're not in trouble. We just want you somewhere safe…"

"Don't hurt Jack," was all she could say in a hiccupping voice.

"Who?" Mills' eyes darted to the Indoraptor in her shadow and widened with understanding. "No, no, Maisie. No one's gonna hurt… _Jack_ … We just need to put him back in his cage now. Yeah? He's gonna go for a nice nap while we go see your grandfather. Okay?"

That didn't seem too bad to Maisie. She glanced timidly at Mr Lisle, who put down his long electric pole. That made her feel a little better. Biting her lip, Maisie shuffled closer to Mills. However, where she went, Jack followed in her footsteps. Maybe he could come with her? If Mills saw how nice Jack was, maybe Grandpa would let her keep him? If they could just–

 _Pppppppppphhhhhttt!_ Came a sharp whistling sound. A bright blue dart pricked the side of Jack's neck, making him flinch with a screech.

Mr Lisle sprung forward and threw himself over Jack's back. Maisie was flung forward with a yell, and Mr Mills caught her in his arms. Jack was as long as Mr Lisle was tall, but he wasn't as wide. He was squashed underneath the man's weight and shrieked with loud fury. Wriggling and writhing, Jack tried to get out, jaws snapping all around to try and bite someone. Gone was his docile whimpering in her shadow, now he thrashed like… like a wild animal. Mr Lisle was shouting, and then the security men were coming in. Mr Mills began to drag Maisie out of the room, but she struggled. She didn't want to leave Jack – Mills promised they wouldn't hurt him! through the bodies, she could see Mr Lisle pulling Jack's arms behind his back until they were bent into an unnatural position, and tying the wrists together like handcuffs. Someone else was doing the same to his ankles, another man was trying to sit on Jack's tail to stop it squirming, and the last man was wrapping the duct tape around his mouth again!

"Jack!" Maisie shouted, trying to stay with him. He must've heard her. He pulled against the hands on his head, trying to follow her with his eyes. When he saw Mills trying to drag her out of the room and down the hall, Jack's struggles grew twice as frantic. Through his closed jaws, she could hear him barking as if calling out to her. When Mills pulled her past the window and she could see him no more, she screamed: " _JACK!"_

* * *

 **Author's Note: for those who don't know, "Tico" is a derogatory/racist slang to describe someone who is Costa Rican. At least, that's what my internet research has told me.**

 **This chapter turned out A LOT different then I had planned. But... It fit. And now having mapped out exactly what I want to do with this story... This is gonna be a little longer than I had thought it would be. :3 Ah, well, more fun for us!**

 **And please don't forget to review! All comments are welcomed and appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

_May 11_ _th_ _, 1986_

Benjamin cursed the traffic-jams that seemed to plague the whole state of California like a disease. He ended up having to run most of the way through Ingen's flashy new corporate building so as to get to his meeting on time. This was why he liked to live upstate in the seclusion of the countryside. No noise, pollution or people to get in his way. For a moment, he was reminded of when he'd worked his first job for his father, before the old git had passed on, rushing around to meetings on time. Luckily, he knew Hammond wouldn't be as disapproving if Benjamin was a minute or two late.

Since their dream was starting to be realised, Benjamin was pleasantly surprised at how often he got to see his old friend. Hammond had made this his top priority, and as such didn't feel the need to travel abroad to oversee his other parks across the world. Benjamin knew Maisie loved this opportunity, as it allowed her to spend more time with her fun-loving uncle. And Benjamin himself enjoyed the opportunity to see more of the man he looked to as a brother. Even if he did find it a little aggravating when Hammond would organise _'emergency'_ meetings at the last minute.

"Ah! Benjamin!" John exclaimed with a wide smile as Benjamin strolled through his office door. "Tea?"

"No thank you, John, water will be fine," Benjamin replied, trying to hide how badly he was panting. As he took the liberty of pouring himself a glass of icy-water from the jug on the desk, he asked. "How's the family?"

"The usual, Mary, she's… Mary." John murmured dismissively. Benjamin felt a pang of sympathy for him. John had adored his daughter, but she somehow managed to grow up detached from him. It was his baby grandchildren now that got all of his attention and love. "Enough of that, we have much other important issues to discuss."

Indeed they did, though Benjamin was unsure exactly what those issues might be. With the birth of the triceratops a success, he'd had begun to cultivate the best minds of the developing science field of genetics, so that they could break down the mysteries of dinosaur DNA. Hammond only interfered once, when he brought in a young Asian man straight out of university, who Hammond claimed would be the next brilliant mind, the geneticist equivalent of Einstein: Dr Henry Wu. The young man seemed eager to please and willing to do anything to get the desired results, which somehow made Benjamin feel a little uneasy. Apart from that, Hammond oversaw all the aspects that would mean bringing their dream to life. He worked closely with architects and engineers, interviewed expert designers and investigated how the latest computer software could be implemented to help them. From the reports they sent each other back and forth, Benjamin had thought things to be running smoothly, so why would Hammond need to discuss something with him of such an ' _urgent_ ' nature.

"It's about the amphitheatre in San Diego," John said.

Benjamin frowned. "You aren't getting more pushback from the City officials again, are you?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It's just that I feel it's… inadequate."

"If that's all this is…" Benjamin slumped, relieved. "John, you know I'll back you up if you want to hire a new architect to look at the designs–"

"No." was the quick reply. Hammond sighed and leant his elbows on his desk, hands clasped together in front of his nose. "Benjamin, answer me this: what are we trying to build here?"

"A place for the public to see dinosaurs, to experience something they've never seen before."

"Exactly! Something they've _never seen_. Benjamin, if we put our attractions in that amphitheatre, what are we giving them? A circus! We'll pull the animals out one by one and show them off to the masses, and then we'll stuff them back in their cages until the next show. No. I don't believe that's our destiny, nor theirs."

"Then what is our destiny, John?"

"Imagine it, Ben: we pull out a triceratops, its keeper pushing it around the ring and rattling off information about it like a teenager working a summer vacation job. The crowd will gawk and stare, and they will go away and speak of how amazing we were to bring them back to do tricks. And that's it. They will appreciate _us,_ but the magnificent animal standing right in front of them, defying God and time to stand before their eyes? They will not give it a second thought." John snorted with clear distaste, such bitterness in his eyes that his partner was taken aback by it. "Now imagine this instead: the crowds stroll past a fence, surrounded by jungle and the natural world, completely taken out of the comforts of civilisation. Then, right behind the fence, a Tyrannosaurus bursts from the trees and roars down at them, demanding they kneel when in its awe-inspiring presence! In that moment, they won't think about us, or the science, or any of the confectionary or petty baubles they've come to associate with entertainment. No, instead, they will realise the miracle of life standing right before them, how majestic and wonderous these animals are. They will see how powerful and beautiful nature can be, and how… _little_ they are in the grand scheme of things. _That's_ our destiny, Benjamin. _That's_ what we're here to do. We're here to humble humanity."

Benjamin was honestly floored by the time Hammond finished. He'd always known his friend to be a visionary, to sell you a dream and make you believe in it with every fibre of his being because _he believed it too._ He honestly believed that in another life, John must've been a preacher of some kind. The way John spoke, as if this _were_ some mission given to him by God, and that to err from this path be a grave tragedy… it was as unsettling as it was inspiring.

"Alright," Benjamin began slowly. "What are you going to do if we can't use the amphitheatre?"

That twinkle was back in his eye. "I'm thinking an island. I've already been in touch with the Costa Rican government. There's a chain of five islands just off the coast, they call them 'the five deaths'."

"Charming."

"They're uninhabited, not even functioning as wildlife reserves. The government's willing to lease the islands to Ingen for us to build on. I'm already drawing up the paperwork. I want to send crews to start building by the end of the month."

Benjamin blanched – surely this was a little fast! "Wait a minute, John! Isn't this a bit… much? You want a park of some sort on an island, way out of the way so that people will need to travel to this little forgotten corner of the world?"

"Look at it this way, should we ever suffer a containment breach – as all Zoos do, eventually – it will be much less complicated if the animals will be stuck on an island and not free to hurt the general public like they would on the mainland."

"I'd like to think a containment breach would never happen! John, we're talking about _dinosaurs_ , not tigers or lions! If they got out – even if isolated on an island – it would be catastrophic!"

"Which is why our geneticists are coming up with an inventive why to make the animals reliant on us, and we'll also be employing the best technology and engineering money can buy. Spare no expense. Don't worry, Benjamin, old boy, it was just a hypothetical scenario."

Benjamin rubbed at the back of his neck, certain he could feel sweat. "And that's another thing, John. You want to rent out these islands? Build everything from scratch? We've already thrown away hundreds of thousands of dollars on what little work's been done on the San Diego amphitheatre. Not to mention the fact that we still need to invest money in actually bringing more of these animals back if we're going to fill a whole park – John, where is all this money going to come from? Because I'll tell you now, if you go too far, you'll bankrupt both of us before its even finished. I don't know about your family, but I intend to leave Maisie her rightful inheritance."

"Calm down, Ben," John said, as if taken aback by his friend's outburst. "Don't worry, these things will all sort themselves out."

Meaning _Benjamin_ would sort these things out. That was one thing that had really grated on him when he'd first met John. The man had all the ambition to sell the world, yet Benjamin always had to be the one to work out _exactly_ how these things were going to be paid for. John did not lack for money, neither of them did, but sometimes Benjamin had to wonder if John really heard himself whenever he said his famous catchphrase: ' _spare no expense'_. But still, John words about destiny echoed in his heart, refusing to leave him be. He had to admit, it did sound far grander, far _worthier_ , to build a park-sanctuary than a circus. It would be a true legacy to leave for Maisie, and for that reason, Benjamin began to run simulations in his head on how best to help his partner finance this.

He just hoped those five little islands didn't live up to their names. Hopefully with time, those names would be long forgotten, and buried beneath all the goodness to the world Hammond and Lockwood were going to bring.

* * *

 _March 20_ _th_ _, 2011_

Checking through the email correspondences as carefully as possible, Benjamin attempted to get comfortable in his seat. Hunched over the keyboard, pressing each letter slowly as he tried to find the next one needed to complete the word. For the thousandth time, he cursed the idiot who thought computers could replace a good pen and paper. Usually, he wrote everything out in pen and then handed it to Mills to translate into an email format. But not this time, no, this was a matter that required him to personally oversee.

Biosyn were trying to put the pressure on him again. The elderly man wished he'd never had the stupidity to run into them – no matter how unwittingly. Maybe things would've turned out better for everyone if that were the case. Maybe they never would've sabotaged the Park, maybe they wouldn't be as big of a looming threat as they were now. But Benjamin knew how to deal with them, a strongly worded email with a thinly veiled threat should be enough to turn them away again. They knew he had been in on Hammond's secrets, and guessed that he was good on Masrani's as well. At least, that was what Benjamin believed they were after – the messages they'd sent were strangely vague but still foreboding. No matter. He would still protect what remained of his empire from the invaders, as any true Lockwood would.

The door to his office burst open, and Benjamin startled in his seat. He was confused and appalled as Mills barged into the room, half dragging Maisie behind him. The child's face was streaked with tears, her sobs so great that she was having difficulty breathing. Behind him came a distraught looking Iris and a security guard.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Benjamin roared, wanting to leap out of his chair, but struggling to stand without his cane – which had fallen to the floor.

"Sir, I'm sorry to have to tell you this," Eli said, looking pale and sweaty. "But there seems to have been a problem…"

"Problem?"

Eli looked down at the sobbing girl in his hands and urged her on. "Tell him, Maisie."

The girl looked up at Benjamin with her big brown eyes, now red and puffy and drowning in tears. She wept so hard she was hiccupping for breath as she tried to speak. "I-I-I'm sor-ry, G-Grandpa! I-I didn-n't mean to f-find him!"

"Find him? Find who?" Benjamin frowned, utterly confused. He leant against the desk as he hobbled around it to try and reach for her. The poor thing was struggling for air to the point he feared she might suffer a spontaneous asthma attack – even though asthma was one of the few things she didn't suffer from. "And who has let her get in this state?"

"Come on dear," Iris murmured softly, taking the opportunity to swoop in and pluck Maisie from Eli's claws. She led Maisie to the armchair and sat her in it. "Sit still and breathe… Calm."

When it was clear Maisie was only focusing on getting her sobbing under control and not volunteering any information, Mills groaned, fidgeting as if explaining things was the last thing he wanted to do. "About ten minutes ago, Sir, Maisie was… she was in the Indoraptor's cell."

It took Benjamin a moment to register what it was Eli had just told him, and then he thought his heart just suffered a stroke as it stuttered to a stop with shock. "What?!" he erupted. Fear made him lash out, and he spun on his life-long friend where she knelt in front of Maisie. "Where were _you_ in all this, Iris? You're meant to keep an eye on her and you let her in with that monster?"

Iris had the decency to look pale and ashamed. "Sir, I assure you, I had no idea–"

"That's even worse!"

"G-Grandpa, _please_!" Maisie moaned, fresh tears bubbling out of her as she beheld his anger. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Upon seeing those pitiful eyes, Benjamin immediately softened. To think, he might've lost her all over again… his knees buckled as he knelt before her and pulled her into his arms, hugging her fiercely. "I know you didn't, sweetie. None of this is your fault." Reluctantly, as if she would be snatched away from him the moment he let her go, he released her and slowly turned back to Eli and the security guard. When he spoke, his voice was quiet once more, but as cold as an Antarctic blizzard. "If that thing touched her…"

"It didn't." said a voice. "I don't think it ever would."

Everyone looked to the office doors as in burst a peeved looking Moroe, holding a tablet in the crook of her arm. Benjamin raised a bushy brow not only at her impertinent tone, but also at what she had just implied. "Dr Moroe? Care to explain yourself?"

"Mr Lockwood, did Mr Mills mention that the Indoraptor specimen was released from its cage with Maisie present in the room?"

He turned on the younger man and hissed as if he were part dinosaur himself. "You let that thing loose on her?!"

"Sir," Eli mumbled quickly, the sweating on his brow growing worse. "I assure you, the moment I knew Maisie was in danger, I immediately called in all the guards and we managed to get her out–"

From the armchair, the girl in question wailed. "You promised you wouldn't hurt him!"

"Maisie, that's enough!" Benjamin snapped, in a tone most unlike anything he had ever used to address her with. He instantly regretted it, but his frustration at the entire situation, and only being told bits and pieces of it at a time was grating on him.

"The guards were a necessary but ultimate useless precaution," Moroe rolled her eyes in her infuriatingly superior way that made it look as if she believed she was far more intelligent than anyone else in the room, and they were all being idiots. "The specimen was not going to hurt her."

"Forgive me for not taking you at your word, Doctor, when my _granddaughter's_ life is at stake."

"I have proof." She turned the tablet in her arms so that he could see the screen. Benjamin felt his stomach turn as he watched the Indoraptor strut out of its cage and approach Maisie where she was sprawled on the floor. For a horrifying moment, it looked as if it might strike at her, but instead, all it did was rub its head against her chest. Moroe paused the video and tucked it back against her body, a smirk on her face. "The specimen had the opportunity to rip open your… _granddaughter_. It decided not to. Much like the velociraptors, I believe it is exhibiting social skills – it seems to have 'adopted' her into its society. Whatever that may be."

"Any comparison with those vicious animals does nothing to calm my nerves, Moroe." Benjamin murmured coldly. He willed his mind not to think back to those walking nightmares he'd first seen so long ago. Indeed, comparing this situation to the Velociraptors in any way only made him want to soil himself over the danger Maisie could be in. "Mills, you can make up for this most egregious mistake by putting that beast under tighter security. Solitary confinement, if need be. I don't want it anywhere near her again, do you understand?"

Before Eli could respond, Maisie burst out of the chair, shoved Iris aside and flung herself around Benjamin's legs. "No! Grandpa, please! You can't take my Jack!"

He frowned at Mills. "Jack?"

"That's the, um, name she's given the Indoraptor, Sir."

With a sigh, Benjamin pulled the girl away from him just enough so that he could kneel to look her in the eye. "Maisie, that creature is a wild animal and not a toy. I don't know what gave you the impression to believe otherwise, but it _is_ dangerous. And I'm sorry, but that means you need to stay away from it."

"G-Grandpa, I don't want you to! He's not! I promise!"

"Mr Lockwood," Moroe blurted in a hurried voice. She seemed unsure of what to say, and for the first time, he saw her look unsettled. "What if I told you that the results I'm getting back from medical tests are improving since Maisie's interaction with it?"

That instantly caught Benjamin's attention. "Iris. Take Maisie outside the office."

"I'll be a good girl!" Maisie shouted. "Just don't take my Jack!"

"Outside, now, Maisie. I'll see you in a moment." He stood. They waited until Iris pulled the emotional girl outside the office and the door had closed behind them. "Explain yourself."

Again, there was that look of uncertainty, but she seemed to get over it and carry on. "I took a blood sample a week ago, just before Maisie's latest round of treatment. The levels were still the same as before, no improvement towards a long-term cure. After Maisie first visited the specimen–"

"You mean there was more than one? How long has this been going on!"

"Only a week ago," Eli squeaked. "I swear to you, Sir, I didn't know until she'd already been and gone – and it was through the safety of the bars!"

" _As I was saying_ …" Moroe huffed indignantly. "After Maisie's first visit, I took another sample a few days later. Response to added stimuli had improved drastically."

"What does that mean?" Benjamin asked.

"It means, Mr Lockwood, that the specimen's overall response to our treatments had suddenly become more receptive since it began interactions with Maisie. As a result, our work towards a cure to your inherent disease has become more realised." Her grin returned. "In short, the more Maisie and the Indoraptor interact, the better her treatments will become."

Benjamin scrutinised the woman with such a hard look that she squirmed on the spot. "This is in theory, though, isn't it? You can't tell for sure that its morale will have anything to do with a cure in the long term."

"What's the saying? Mind over matter?" When she realised she still had not won him over, a devious gleam entered her eyes. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order…?"

* * *

 _October 27_ _th_ _, 1986_

John hadn't been kidding when he said he'd wanted workers to start construction within the month of being granted permission to host his park on the islands. It was decided that the largest of the islands, Isla Sorna, would host the 'factory floor'. The animals would be bred and nurtured and adjusted to modern life there before they would be moved over to Isla Nublar, which is where the actual park would be. Hammond had sent construction crews, engineers and other specialists to Sorna immediately in order to establish the basics for operations.

And then the scientists had come in and started their work, even as their labs and facilities kept expanding around them as the construction work continued. The dig-teams were bringing back samples all the time now that they knew what to look for. Henry Wu was actually changing up the whole game with his ingenuity. Whereas they previously took months to decode and fill in the gaps in the genome, Henry somehow managed to get it all done in record time. Benjamin and John decided to simply not investigate whatever corners he cut to make such a thing happen.

So it was in late October that John invited Benjamin to fly to Isla Sorna for the hatching of a new species. Benjamin wanted to make the trip anyways because he wanted to inspect what all of this money was being put into, and also seeing if he could come up with any ideas as to how to create the money needed for this to continue. Though both he and Hammond had the money to oversee this entire project, he'd calculated earlier, Benjamin might've been considered too privileged because he wanted to do this without being forced to dig too deep into his own pocket.

When he arrived, the place was a little more basic then he'd have liked on the outside, only to be amazed at how sophisticated everything looked on the inside. John had greeted him cheerfully and shown him around with the excitement of a child showing off their birthday presents. When they came down to what would become 'The Hatchery', both Benjamin and John were instructed to pull on hazmat-style suits over their clothes. The scientists were worried what might happen if any foreign bacteria were introduced to the babies at such early stages – and seeing as how it was a new species, they had no idea how it would react, if at all.

John and Benjamin huddled around the tiny egg and watched it awed fascination as the little life inside clawed and shoved its way into the world. John cooed over the little thing, softly murmuring words of encouragement to the little dinosaur as if he were a mother-hen. Benjamin almost made a joke, but was too stunned by the miracle happening right before his eyes to do such a thing. It was in that moment that he fully understood what John really meant when he said he wanted to humble humanity. Nothing had made Benjamin more appreciative and in awe of the power of nature than watching the impossible be born.

And then that moment ended.

A sickly yellow eye opened, far too large for the head it inhabited. A scrawny neck wobbled and swung itself about, and let out an ugly little screech. A pale body covered in blood and goop fell into the artificial 'nest' the egg had been placed in. Its arms were long and gangly, its body mismatched in proportions as the feet seemed too big, like a puppy's, with a sickle toe-claw on each foot looking particularly sharp and gleaming. Its tail flopped almost uselessly on the ground. It squawked a terrible sound, and looked up at Benjamin with a fierce stare, as if the being who once owned the blood used to create this clone were staring out at him and demanding: _how dare you do this to me?!_

Benjamin was especially disturbed by the maliciousness present in an animal. But John was utterly delighted as he scooped the little dinosaur up in his gloved hands. "Oh! She's perfect!"

"I wouldn't say that just yet, Mr Hammond," said Dr Wu as he came forward, scribbling notes down on a clipboard. "This is just version 1. I hope to refine the process, work out the kinks until I can find just the right balance."

"Of course, Henry," agreed John distractedly. "Be sure to give us the best animals the world has ever seen – spare no expense."

As Benjamin left with John an hour later, he glimpsed on Dr Wu's notebook exactly what kind of creature he'd watched be reintroduced to the world: Velociraptor.

By Christmas, Wu had managed to concoct two other 'versions' of the Raptor DNA sequence. Each time, he added new things, so that they might grow faster, or larger, or faster etc. Trial and error, he claimed, until he could find the appropriate mix of genes that would be suitable for the park. Only one raptor was born per version to minimise losses while Wu ' _worked out the kinks_ '. Considering current paleontological research suggested that most raptor species were social creatures, living in packs, someone had suggested putting the three together to keep each other company.

Benjamin had received a grim email the next morning: apparently the two oldest raptors had turned on the smallest of them, the one from batch 3, and they'd ripped the little thing apart. It had barely been two days old. An hour after, the surviving pair had fought for dominance over feeding time, and both had been killed in the fight.

He remembered the eyes from that very first raptor and shivered in his seat from a sudden chill.

* * *

 _March 20_ _th_ _, 2011_

He awoke with his head pounding and his tongue feeling fuzzy. His vision was unfocused at first, and the world spun. He tried to open his mouth, to lick at his lips with uncertainty, but found he could not. A force held his jaws closed. Instantly, he began to panic, claws reaching up to try and pry this force away from him. But it did nothing but scratch and hurt at his own scales. Muffled snarls of hate could be heard from inside his mouth – anger coursed through him so hard it burned!

A door opened, a light poured in. It hurt the space behind his eyes and he hissed, turning away from the blinding flash. A figure walked towards him, footfalls too heavy to be _Sister_ , the gait too lazy to be any of the incompetent feeders he'd known throughout his life. A scent drifted to his nose. Old dried and dead skin mixed with a pungent musk. It took him a moment to gather his memories of what had happened before the darkness of sudden sleep.

The new man, the one with the orange hair so vivid it was unmistakable, it was him. Even in the short time he'd interacted with this human, _he_ knew that he hated him most of all. He touched him when his touch wasn't wanted. He bruised and he hurt and he forced _him_ into positions that were uncomfortable and made him panic from the feeling of confinement. The man held a long silver stick in his hand as he strutted closer.

The Indoraptor stood on legs that felt shaky. He wanted to lean back on his hind legs, to try and ward off the threat by a show of intimidation. But something halted such movement. He looked down, and found shining chains around his ankles linked to a bulky collar around his neck. They allowed him to stand but prevented anything other than a stumbling walk. Though his mouth was sealed shut, the Indoraptor hissed as loudly as he could to try and warn the human away.

"We'll be havin' none of that," said the human in his strange voice that didn't sound like how any of the humans talked. He held up the silver stick a blue light flashed at the end of it. "Someone wants a little show out've ya. So stay down while I put on yer leash."

He took another step closer – it was too close. The Indoraptor gave off a muffled roar and charged at the human. His legs and teeth might've been rendered useless, but he still had his claws. The serrated talons came within inches of gutting the human, before he moved aside and jabbed his stick into the Indoraptor's flank.

A scream attempted to explode from the closed jaws. White-hot fire seared into his body, seizing around his bones and making every muscle spasm. He dropped to the floor and shuffled away, eyes wide and bewildered. The human held up his long stick again and the blue-white light flashed at the end again. The Indoraptor shied away, comprehension dawning on him.

"That's right," said the human measuredly. "You know who's in charge here. Do as yer told, and things'll be alright. Act up, and things'll get quite nasty for you, mate."

The Indoraptor eyed the silver stick and then the human. The danger was clear. This human was too big and too heavy to kill – his strength earlier had proved that. He was still too young and small to take on such experienced prey. And what's more, he had tools that hurt, could incapacitate, maybe even kill. But it was clear the human didn't want the Indoraptor dead, at least not as prey. For now, that meant he was unable to do anything against him, not until he was big enough for the enemy's strength to be useless and his weapons less effective. And that day would one day come, of that the Indoraptor had no doubt.

The human moved towards him again, trying to link a chain to his collar. The Indoraptor hissed at the intrusion of his personal space, and attempted to swipe his claws at the invasion. The human responded by jabbing him with the stick again and making him scream. Whilst he lay recovering from the searing pain, the human clipped on the chain and began to pull it. Weary and hurting, he had no energy to do anything but follow the harsh tug on his neck.

He was led down a narrow and dark corridor. The darkness didn't bother him, his eyes adjusted quickly to the dark until he could see with the same clarity as he would in the light. Pulled through a doorway, he stumbled into a grey square room. It was wide with no cover or any object in it at all. In his weakened state, he felt too exposed. And there were other humans here. One was a female with a dark hide; he knew her, she came to his cage to prod and prick him with sharp pointed things that stung and hurt him. Beside her was a male he had seen from time to time, tall with a head-crest of a lighter shade. Then there was a human who stood tall and dominant, the alpha of the pack. His crest was white and overgrown down his face, demonstrating his age. The Indoraptor sniffed experimentally and found the scent of this man triggered something in his brain. For some reason, this human demanded respect and obedience, and held himself with such a stature that _he_ felt inclined to lower his gaze. Behind him was an older female, uninteresting to the point where her features were glossed over. And held back in her hands was –

 _Sister!_

He ran for her. Suddenly, he remembered his name, the name she gave him – Jack, he was Jack! He wanted to trumpet his call to her, the call instinct told him meant to summon pack together as one. Relief flooded through him. After watching her be dragged away, after suffering the bruises of the hated human, of waking up and feeling so disorientated, it was good to –

The chain yanked on his neck and he was lurched to a stop with a painful jarring on his throat. He squawked and tried to tug back, growling through his closed muzzle. Nothing was going to keep him from her! The hated-human was having to use all his body weight and strength to keep Jack from taking a step further. Turning back to Sister, Jack strained his neck as far as he could in an attempt to reach her.

The smell of salt was heavy around her as water leaked out of her eyes. Was something wrong with her? Why was she leaking? The alpha human put a hand between Jack and her, like a parent protecting a hatchling.

"If you're quite finished with his failure of a _demonstration_ ," the alpha, The Father, said icily to the younger female. His voice seemed to reverberate around Jack's skull.

"Sir, it is not over yet." Said the dark female. "Mr Mills, could you please tell your dog to ease off?"

The tall male appeared annoyed but nodded to the hated-human. There was a moment of hesitation, and then the chain went slightly slack.

It was then that Jack realised that this was some sort of test. His eyes flickered between the humans as he analysed the situation, as he had done outside his cell a few hours earlier. When the humans had invaded his den, threatened both his safety and Sister's, his first instinct had been to kill and maim and tear. He'd wanted nothing more than to rip every last one of them apart. But his mind had stopped him, realising a lot of things at once and racing to come to a conclusion. He'd known he'd been outnumbered and would likely be injured if he fought. He'd also noticed that the invaders had merely wanted Sister. So, he'd pretended to act demure and pathetic, hoping that a ruse of helplessness would get the intruders to lower their guard just long enough. It hadn't worked then, but perhaps something similar would be more effective now?

Sister stepped closer to him, her brow pinched as she tried to work out why he hadn't acted to the slack chain straight away. "Is he sleepy?"

"We had to put him to sleep, Maisie, like I told you," said the tall male.

Hated-Human grunted. "Bugger wouldn't go down without a fight. Took three darts before he even started wobblin'."

Sister took one more step closer. "Jack?"

Slowly, he laid himself onto the floor at her feet, turning his head just the right way to expose his throat in a gesture of submission. The other humans gaped at him, and he took the opportunity to crawl closer. Until he could wrap his arms around Sister's ankles and leaned his head against her knees. His body curled around her like a protective cocoon. It burned his insides with outrage to sink this low before them. But more than anything else in this world, he didn't want to be alone again. Sister was _his,_ no one else's! He would show them how he wouldn't be parted from her, no matter what method he had to take to get the message across.

The dark female's voice was filled with a tone of triumph. "You see?"

The elder female's scent was coated in her fear, and it was very addictive. It made her snap first, and she reached forward towards Sister. "Maisie, that's enough dear. Come away–"

Before her unworthy hands could touch Sister, Jack hissed a clear warning. Should she choose to ignore it, he would be more than happy to bite off her offending limbs. The human startled back with a shriek she tried to swallow, unsuccessfully. The sound was loud and grated on Jack's ears and he growled louder at her.

"And it appears he is protective," said the younger female.

"Grandpa," came Sister's voice as the spoke to The Father respectfully. "Please. He isn't nasty. We was being friends before today."

The younger female stepped closer to The Father. "Mr Lockwood, I highly advise you to consider this. Catering to the specimen's psychological needs could go a long way to improving his overall health, and thus your cure."

Jack didn't understand their words. He only understood that The Father was about to make an important decision. He stared up at the elderly alpha, daring to give him eye-contact, making it clear in his gaze that he would issue a challenge for the right to Sister if that was needed.

When The Father spoke, his voice was quiet but carried the same authority as a roar. "We'll all need to discuss this privately. Should I even remotely agree to this, I want to be sure all the necessary safety precautions are in place. Am I understood?"

They all nodded. Sister knelt to pet at the quills behind his head. Jack let her, his claws tightening their hold on her legs possessively.


	5. Chapter 5

_June 1_ _st_ _, 2011_

Maisie threw herself on the floor, face down, bum stuck up in the air. She wailed into the carpet.

"Maisie Anne Lockwood," Iris said in growing irritation, "if you do not pick yourself up this instant, you will go straight to your room!"

"I vanna fee Dakk!" she shouted into the carpet, her words muffled by the fuzz.

"Young lady!" snapped the nanny angrily, grabbing hold of the child and sitting her up so that she could glare into the girl's pouting face. "You will use the Queen's English properly, do you understand? Now sit up and speak clearly."

"I want to see Jack!"

Iris' jaw set, her lips pressed into a hard line. " _Jack-_ this, _Jack_ -that!" she muttered. "I am sick of it. There will be no seeing that… _beast_. You heard your Grandfather, no visits until Friday!"

The little girl tried very hard not to cry, and instead settled for screaming as she threw herself back to the floor. For the past few months, it had been like this. Maisie had thought that when Grandpa had agreed to let her visit Jack properly without having to sneak around, she would be able to see him as much as she liked. But no. Grandpa insisted she could only see him on Friday and Saturday afternoons, and even then, it was only for half an hour, with Jack chained up and her safely behind a sheet of thick glass. They weren't allowed to get near each other, and that nasty Mr Lisle was always there with Jack to zap him with the electric-pole if he misbehaved, along with a fat security man with Maisie. Grandpa was scared in case Jack got free, if he would hurt Maisie by accident. But she knew he wouldn't. They were best friends.

Or at least, they were supposed to be! Because they couldn't play properly, both she and Jack were getting very mad at the situation. Maisie had started to be naughty during her medicine visits, to try and let everyone know she wouldn't be a good girl if they wouldn't let her see Jack. She didn't understand a lot of what the grown-ups said, but she was still a smart girl – her Grandpa always told her so. They didn't know she had some idea of what this medicine was. She didn't know everything about it, but she knew that Jack was somehow involved in order to make her medicine work. But if they wouldn't let her see him, then she wouldn't let them take it. Dr Moroe had been quite rough last time, holding Maisie down to make sure she took the needle properly. Maisie was beginning to dread her medicine visits more and more lately.

"I want to!" Maisie screeched.

"Enough!" Iris finally shouted over her. "I won't listen to this anymore. You are going to your room and you can explain this vile behaviour to your Granfather at dinner."

Maisie felt Iris' bone-thin fingers grab hold of her arms and hoist her up. The girl flailed and screamed louder in an unholy tantrum. When her wriggling didn't help release her from Iris' hold, she let her limbs go limp, her sockets turning to jelly. A dead weight was a little more difficult for Iris to carry, but the nanny still managed to drag her up to her room. Dumping the squealing girl on her bed, Iris then marched out the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Maisie threw the nearest teddy bear – Mr Floppy – at the door, and screamed.

* * *

The Indoraptor screamed.

This was unacceptable.

For days beyond what he could count, they'd teased him with the idea of belonging. They'd dangled Sister in front of his nose like bait, but always kept her out of reach. Whenever they saw each other it was behind a sheet of glass he could barely scratch. And he was always on the end of a chain that pinched his throat, the vile most-hated orange-haired human on the other end. He couldn't touch sister, couldn't smell her scent, or be sure they were kept together. And whenever they were apart, this hated-human put him through torture. He would try to get him to do things: walk over there, climb that, stay put. All it did was confuse and irritate the Indoraptor. This human had no authority over him, and he would not accept any attempt to usurp his own control over himself. But all he got in return for his defiance was a nasty prod from the spark-stick. _The prod,_ the hated-human called it. The Indoraptor was beginning to wonder which one of them he despised more.

He wanted Sister. He wanted the comfort of something familiar, something he could wrap his brain around, something he knew wasn't a threat. Yet all they did was keep her away and when they did allow him to see her, they wouldn't let him touch her. Completely unacceptable! He needed her. His thoughts always grew calm with her, he could be _Jack_ again when she was here. He wasn't _Jack_ without her.

He let loose another indignant screech and thrashed his tail and side against the bars of his cage. As if someone had heard him, the door to his den opened. Much to his disgust, the hated-human strutted in. The chain was grasped in his hand. It confused the Indoraptor. His internal clock told him he wasn't scheduled to see Sister for another few days. Something didn't smell right about this.

That initial suspicion was what led him to try and avoid the chain, to snap and scratch at the rough hands that tried to hook it around his neck. The hated-human shouted and got him with _the prod_ , and he cried out in pain. Eventually, they pricked him with the darts from the guns. The first two only made him a little dizzy; it was always the third one that had his head swim and his body go limp.

When he awoke, the world was tipping back and forth, and sounds made his head feel like it was splintering. He hated waking up after the darts. His body didn't feel like his own, he felt nauseous and it took a while for the numbness in his limbs to completely go away. The hated-human must know all this, for putting him to sleep seemed like his go-to option whenever the Indoraptor put up even a little resistance to transportation. Maybe he liked to see him suffer – just one more act to repay in full once the day of retribution finally came.

The Indoraptor tried to lift his head, tried to orientate himself, to stand. He felt the tug on the chain around his neck, and it was enough to unbalance him. He flopped to the ground again. Breathing to try and control his rolling stomach, he attempted to focus his eyes. He was chained to the wall, a large arching roof stretched far over him. Twenty feet away he could see large double doors, and through the crack in them he could smell the heady scents of so many different things. It made his head spin in a different kind of way. Along the walls and all across the room were large square metal boxes on wheels. He knew their sounds – their roars and snarls were aggravating to his sensitive ears.

Creaky hinges squealed as a door opened. Bright light bloomed in one corner of the room, just beside the big doors. The Indoraptor tilted his head, even if the light stung his eyes a little. He heard footsteps coming closer and tensed. But the footsteps were too light to belong to the hated-human. He scented the air and caught a whiff of something familiar. Could it be –

Her head popped around the side of one of the metal boxes on wheels. She beamed at him, the fur on top of her head moulded differently today – it stuck out the back of her head on either side like a pair of horns. It confused him, but that was overshadowed by his excitement to see her. He chirped loudly, trilling the closer she got. Sister knelt in front of him and cautiously held out her hands.

Ignoring her fingers, he pressed his head into her stomach. He sniffed. She did not smell like him, her coverings smelled bitter and sharp to the point it hurt his nose. If she didn't smell like him, she didn't smell like pack, which meant others wouldn't be able to tell she was his. _His_ sister, _his_ companion, _his-his-HIS!_ Rubbing his chin and jaws along any part of her he could reach, he pressed his scent onto her through the glands on his face. Sister giggled and squirmed, but one of his hands wrapped around her leg and held her still. If she wanted to behave like a hatchling, he would treat her like one.

"Missed you too, Jack," she said in a quiet voice. She must know of how he hated loud noises, how it hurt his ears. That was why he purred happily at her sweet voice being so nice and quiet. "Iris wanted me to play outside, but I saw Mr Lisle come out. You can't tell no one. This is our secret."

She pulled out a bunch of keys that chimed together a little too shrilly for his liking. But he knew the look of them. In his short life he'd come to recognise what small freedoms looked like. Jack tried to bite at them excitedly, but Sister moved them out of his reach.

"Mr Lisle left them on the wall outside – he's getting a coffee." She chattered mindlessly in her lisping voice. Jack ignored her words, focused only on the key as she bent to try and unlock the chain around his neck. "So, I did think we could go outside and play together! Would that be good? I does think so."

A loud _CLICK,_ and then the chain went slack around his neck and slid off. Tentatively, Jack stood up, as if fearing another set of chains would spring from the ground to trap him once again. But there was no hinderance to his movements. He shook his body from nose to tail, chirping loudly with his excitement. Finally, freedom. Sister bared her teeth at him. At first he was taken aback, before he recognised the light in her eyes, and realised she was not being aggressive or challenging him for his authority. She was smiling. He tilted his head at her, curious at her expression of happiness. Could he do the same?

Before he could learn more, she was bounding away back across the large room, an excited spring in her step. Jack eagerly followed her. With his long and gangly back-legs, his stride was rather awkward and misshapen. He loped on all fours in a jarring roll rather than jogging on two feet. He always felt unbalanced on two feet, like his head would face-plant the floor. Sister was stood by a door, a bright light shining underneath it, the scents he'd gotten a taste of earlier now stronger. Was she leading him to the outside? Were they going to runaway from this place? He wiggled excitedly – what a clever sister she was! Yes, they would escape this torment and then they would find a den and hunting grounds of their own.

"Come on!" she whispered as her little hands gripped a piece of metal sticking out the door. Jack watched intently as she pulled it downwards until it pointed towards the floor. There was an ever so soft _click_ , and then the door swung open. Bright light flooded Jack's vision. He hissed and took a step back, trying to rub at his eyes to get rid of the sting. He heard Sister's voice through the doorway. "Quick, Jack! I does know where we can play!"

For a moment, he panicked she might leave without him, or get too far ahead. He stumbled forward into the blinding light, jarring his hip on the doorframe where he couldn't make out his way. Smooth stone floor turned into small sharp and piercing stones under the pads of his feet. Jack shook his head vigorously to try and shake off the light that pierced right through his skull. It took several moments before he could blink his vision back. But even then, everything was too bright! He was used to the dark, to the cramped inside of the hallways and gloomy rooms. The light was always manageable to him inside. But out here, it was too much. The bright yellow ball in the sky was shining too intently, it was hurting him.

As he began to adjust, he looked around whilst trying to shield his eyes from the direct light. He tried to locate Sister… and managed to finally get a good look at his surroundings. He stood on a pebbled path, a wide clearing with huge trees not fifty feet away. Behind him was the tall stone structure that smelled of the place where he grew up, the place that smelled like Sister. It stood defiant against the landscape, unnatural and distinctly _human_. Around the house, the trees rose atop hills and dipped in valleys as far as the eye could see. A wind tickled at Jack's scales and brought with it a bombardment of scents.

Jack's brain was so overloaded it stuttered to a stop and he froze in mounting confusion and alarm. This outside world, it was too open, too _much!_ Everything was so wide, he felt completely exposed. He felt too small in a world that now was far too big. All the scents he could now pick up were all trying to grab his attentions. He could smell the bark of the trees, the excrement of the animals living in the trees, the rotting berries on the forest floor, running water somewhere in the south, fumes from human vehicles, and more! It all forced itself upon him with such intensity he didn't know what to make of it. He wanted to run, he wanted to stay, he wanted to explore, he wanted to hide. He was so confused it scared him a little, and for the first time in his life, he wanted to go back to his cage.

"What you doing?"

And there it was, the little sweet voice. The voice he could remember calling him into the world. The voice that soothed his dreams and made the dark bearable. Jack's head immediately snapped up in the direction of it, and he saw Sister stood across the clearing. The quills that grew from her head shined a rich brown, like the fertile earth all around her. Her skin glowed in the sun. Perhaps the outside wasn't so bad if it made Sister look so happy from the inside out.

She was gesturing at him to come closer. "Come on! We can play before Mr Lisle comes back."

Cautiously, Jack stepped towards her; slowly at first, but as she continued to encourage him, his stride grew surer and quickened. Soon he was at her side and the pair of them walked into the woods. The shade under the trees offered relief to his eyes and the soft forest floor was preferable on his feet. The sounds he could detect, from the rustling of leaves to the chattering of feathered animals, to even the lower pitched sounds he could just about hear that came from much further away.

They came to a fallen-tree that had long since died and rotted away to nothing but a hollow log. It was stuck half way in the soil, with strings of moss and vines linking the tree to all the others around it. Jack could smell the insects and small furred prey that frequented this area. Sister could fit inside the log if she bent at the waist, but he would need to crouch to get in. She ran over to the log and scrambled up its side rather awkwardly until she sat atop it.

"We can play here!" she proclaimed. "This is my castle – but just pretend. I can be the princess and you can be the knight. That means you have to do what I say…"

He wasn't listening anymore. Jack was busy sniffing all around this place to see if it was suitable for them to make a den. He didn't like how it was so close to the house – they hadn't walked very far. That meant the other humans might find them too easily here. The log looked like a decent shelter, but the stink of rot around it told him it wouldn't last for many more years. Soon even the slightest touch would cause it to crumble. Also, both of them were still growing. Jack knew just by the smell on both of them that they were immature, not yet full grown, not adults. They would get bigger, and that meant they needed a den big enough for both of them.

It would be easy to find them something suitable, he knew he could do it. Now that his anxieties had been assured by Sister, his earlier desire to explore, to run, was burning inside him. He stared off into the trees – the fact that they seemed to go on forever still daunted him, but he couldn't suppress the want to run through them.

"Jack? Do you see something?" he heard Sister's voice right beside him. It startled him a little, he'd been so lost in his own imagination he hadn't noticed her sneak up on him.

The want to take her with him was strong. But something about her smell caught his nose. The beginnings of the sickness was coming again. It wasn't enough that she would notice it in herself, but he could tell it on her scent. Over the past month or more, he'd begun to notice a pattern: that the weakness he'd sensed in her upon first meeting her, would strengthen and grow over time. It manifested itself in a sickness that made Sister a little weak and tired all the time. He knew it was graver than that, his nose told him so, but his mind couldn't comprehend the complexities of it all. It was around this time that the humans in the white coats would come and prick him with needles, and then the next time he saw her, Sister would be back to her almost-healthy self. If she was now starting to get the sickness again, she'd be a liability if he came across any trouble. He needed to keep her safe – pack must look after pack.

Pressing his head into her stomach, he pushed her back towards the log. Grunting at her, he bumped her with his nose until she ducked down, and he stuffed her inside of it. With a hiss and a stamp of his hand into the soil, he raked his long talons through the dirt. A clear order for her to stay put. He didn't know if she would obey but was prepared to assert his authority if necessary. With one last flick of his tail, he stalked off into the trees.

Slow steps first, he sniffed left and right, eyes scanning, head twitching towards the slightest sound. But all seemed calm and quiet, he was the only thing of significance here. He picked up the pace, and then, before he knew it, he was running – _really_ running! The ground flew by underneath him, his long and lanky legs somewhat helped him to overcome the hilly terrain. He climbed over boulders, swerved around trees and skidded down the other side of banks. He leapt over fissures and followed the wind. A rush unlike anything he'd ever experienced coursed through his veins, he felt lighter than air, a euphoria that made him want to shriek to the heavens in victory. His long-awaited dream, to run, to stretch his cramped and twitching muscles, was real.

Scrambling up a steep incline, he came to the very top. Out of breath, his lungs were burning, heart bursting against his ribs, muscles shaking. He was unused to this amount of exercise. The hated-human usually only let him be chained to a pole with a length long enough to stroll in a circle. He didn't think he'd gone too far from Sister, but it was still quite a distance. The incline he perched on fell away in a sheer drop on the other side. The Indoraptor used this vantage point in order to be able to see all over the valley that was spread out below him. The sun still hurt his eyes, but he was getting used to it by now. Far below, he could see a crowd of shapes walking between the trees. They walked on all fours and the scent of them that came on the wind said they were furred herbivores. The Indoraptor's brain made the connection to prey very quickly, and his stomach rumbled at the thought of a meal, his pulse quickened at the thought of fresh blood he'd killed himself.

A loud yowl erupted behind him.

The Indoraptor squawked, jumping in the air where he was so startled. He almost fell down the other side of the drop, if not for his long claws and talons scraping into the rock. He clung to it for all he was worth, leaving white gouges in the stone as a result. Wide eyed, he looked back up at what had made such an awful noise.

It stood on all fours, tawny fur bristling with hackles raised and long tail lashing in clear aggression. The thing had curled ivory claws that sank into its own perch not six feet away from him. Its sleek body was hunched, prepared to spring. Its face was contorted as it bared four long fangs at him and hissed at him. It was taller than him, he was far longer, but this new creature was definitely taller and much more muscular. If he had the words, the Indoraptor would have known this to be a Mountain Lion, the apex predator of these parts. But he did not know, the same way he had not thought to keep himself wary of any other large predators. Lack of experience in the wild had him baffled as for what to do in this situation.

The thing was not pleased to see him. The longer it looked at him, the more aggressive it became, as if it were so confused by the alien look and smell of him that it could only respond in anger. The Indoraptor's instincts told him that if he did nothing, the situation would surely escalate into a fight. So, he did the first thing that came to mind. He made his body go cold. It felt as if his heart had shrivelled up and his veins grew heavy, as all the heat left him, and he grew as cold as all his surroundings. Hunkered down and cold, he hoped it would let the threat pass him by. No luck. The cougar roared and swiped its paw at the air in front of him. Letting the heat rush back in, the Indoraptor began to grow angry. The need to defend, to dominate, to rip and tear was slowly building within him. If the thing wanted a display, he'd give it one.

Rearing on his hind legs, he slammed his front talons into the earth. He opened his jaws wide and roared at it. The gust of wind he let loose from his lungs was powerful enough to make the cougar's fur ripple. The quills atop his head flared up, like his opponent's hackles. The cougar shrank back at the display and hissed again, tail lashing.

Growing cocky that he had it backing down, the Indoraptor could not resist the urge to maim and kill. His claws were begging to render the flesh of this adversary. He charged forward, swiping his talons at the lion. But with amazing speed, it dodged right past him. It flanked him, reared onto its back legs and smacked him around the face. The force of its paw striking his head made him dizzy, and its claws stung as they cut into the soft scales beneath his eye.

Blindly, he lashed out with his hands. He hit something, felt his talons meet resistance before they ripped something. A feeling of wet warmth splattered his scales. The thing roared. He'd only scratched its shoulder, but the addictive feeling of wounding another creature sang its song through his body. The small victory was enough of a distraction. The cougar leapt at him claws hooking into him, its body aimed away from his arms, and it sank its teeth into his thigh.

The Indoraptor screamed! He thought the spark-sticks the hated-human zapped him with had hurt? Nothing and no one had ever wounded him like this before! The teeth pierced his young hide, into his muscle, and instantly he wanted to collapse that leg to ease the pain. He thrashed to try and buck the enemy off, twisting around and biting at the creature's tail. If he could catch hold of it, he could rip it off and throw it off him!

As the pair of them tussled and twisted for dominance over the forest floor, they churned up earth and pine-needles and caused a trail of destruction in their wake. The cougar ripped its teeth out of the dinosaur and made its way up his body. The Indoraptor instinctively knew its target, as any predator does – the neck. In response, he tucked his chin against his chest to protect the softer underside of his throat. The cougar attempted to sink its fang down on the spinal-column in his neck. _CLACK!_ Its teeth could not penetrate the much harder overlapping scales that lined his spine from the back of his head to the tip of his tail. It yowled in pain, thwarted. With the precious moments this afforded him, the Indoraptor flipped himself onto his back, twisting to get his back feet underneath the Cougar. His sickle claws lashed out and sank into the big-cat's stomach and tore it open. With a great heave, he kicked the enemy away from him.

He didn't waste a moment. Not waiting to see if the injuries he'd inflicted were mortal or if the Cougar was even dead yet, he jumped to his feet and ran. The pain in his thigh was punctuated with each step of his loping sprint back down through the forest. He could smell the blood, both the Cougar's and his own. He'd never been hurt like that before, it frightened him, to be that powerless. On instinct, he ran from the threat and back towards what he knew to be a comfort.

But where was that? All these trees looked the same, he was in too much of a panic to heed his sense of smell or to remember the landmarks and angle of the sun from his journey up here. He wanted Sister, he wanted pack, he wanted comfort.

" _JACK?!"_

He skidded to a halt, spraying dirt in all directions. His wound was throbbing, his heart still refused to calm its racing beat. Head cocked to one side, he tried to listen for the sound of Sister's voice once again. Body responding in a way he didn't understand at first, he leaned back up to his full height (favouring the left leg to compensate for the pain in his right), and tilted his head towards the sky. He let loose a series of loud cough-like-barks. Instinct said it was the noise meant to alert packmates to one's location, or to call them to you.

The new sound echoed into the silence that had fallen over the forest. The Indoraptor scanned the trees, never wanting so badly as to be back inside the familiar halls and rooms that he knew and understood. And then, he heard it: " _JACK!"_

It had worked. Quickly, he let loose the coughing-bark again, and ran towards where he heard her voice. He kept running, even when his leg screamed at him for relief, when he was more limping than galloping, he still ran.

And then he saw her. She noticed him and smiled. But when he did not slow down, she paled. As he passed her, he snapped his jaws onto the end of her coverings and pulled her along with him. He was too small, too weak, to carry her. Instead, he dragged her to where he wanted her to go. At first she fought him, but when she realised the fear in his eyes, she followed. He had not the words to tell her. They were too small, he wanted to say, the world was too big. The outside was full of things he didn't understand yet.

He dragged her back until they were back inside the house, back inside the dark, back to the world he could comprehend. Once in the safety of the shadows, he released her and went ahead on his own. Caring not for who saw him or what was to come next, he charged down the halls, following his nose until he found the familiar scent of his den. There, he squirmed his way inside his cramped and filthy cage. Only when he was pressed against the back, curled up and alone, did he finally allow himself to breathe and relax.

No. He was not ready for the world yet. The outside was too much for him to deal with. No, he told himself, as much as it hurt his pride, he needed to wait. With time, he would grow bigger, stronger, tougher. When that day arrived, he could break free and find himself a place of solitude and safety in the outside, and he would take Sister with him. But for now, he had to stay with the devils he knew. This would be his sanctuary, to grow and develop until the time was right. This human hive, this house, was his Kingdom now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry this chapter took so long, guys! I had planned to get this out WEEKS ago. But unfortunately, a busy schedule and a lot of unplanned happenings delayed me, and for that, I'm sorry. I hope this chapter more than makes up for it.**

 **There is a section of this chapter that was largely inspired by the original Jurassic Park novel, the chapter titled: Versions 4.4. There is a great reading/exploration of this chapter by Klayton Fioriti on youtube. I swear the more chapters I put out of this story, it's like this guy is reading my mind, because he seems to put out a lot of J.P content that directly links to my work or backs up a lot of my headcannons for what is to come in this story. Please give him a watch, he's very good!**

 **Please don't forget to review, and warning of mild violence.**

* * *

 _August 3_ _rd_ _, 2011_

"How did this happen?"

Mills' eyes scanned the email, scrolling the bar down further and further. A part of his brain couldn't compute how this was possible, let alone try to explain it to his employer. He could feel Benjamin stood over his shoulder, his icy presence pressing down on Mills' back. Mills tried to keep hold of his nerve and not fidget around like a school-boy getting his first lecture from the headmaster. But it was hard to do so with damning evidence laid out before him on the screen.

The email was from an unknown user, though Benjamin had made it clear whom he suspected. The email consisted of pictures, at first one could mistake them for landscape shots of trees, until one noticed the familiar chimney stacks and Victorian-era roof-slats hidden amongst the treetops. Then the pictures brought into tight focus on one figure in particular. Maisie, playing outside on the play-equipment she'd been bought last spring. One picture was distant but showed her leaning back on the swings. Another showed her crouched to peer at a snail. A different showed her skipping about, brandishing a stick like a sword. And the list went on that showed a decent long-term surveillance. At the bottom of the email were left only two words: _We Know._

"Sir," Mills began, "I have no idea how there could've been such a massive security breech. But rest assured, I will do everything in my power to make sure this house, and its secrets, are safely guarded."

Behind Benjamin, the pitter-patter of torrential raindrops slapped against the dark windowpane. "This needs to be contained, Eli. I will not have my family taken away from me. I trust no one else to do what must be done."

Mills struggled not to swell with pride. "I think it would be best, Sir, if we go on temporary lockdown until we can be sure our security is back up to scratch. I'll have a platoon of men here by sunup." At the suggestion, Benjamin nodded. "And you know who sent this?"

"It's obvious. They've been attempting to wring information out of me for months. I didn't give them what they want."

"And now?" Mills pressed. "Have they sent you any demands since you received this email."

"No," Benjamin shook his head, troubled. "This was the last message I received – only an hour ago."

"I'll have some men look into it–"

The pair were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. Benjamin hastily shut down the laptop, and the pair of them stood straight as Iris poked her head in through the door. She glanced between them, but they said nothing. "Sorry to interrupt Mr Lockwood, but Maisie has been asking for you."

"Oh?" The response was almost lost as a crack of thunder boomed almost directly overhead.

Iris winced at the sound. "Yes, sir. She refuses to go to bed until you tuck her in."

"Tell her I'll be there momentarily," Benjamin said and waited for Iris to leave the study, before turning back to Mills. "Remember, Mills. You're the only one I trust with this. Keep my family safe."

The lights of the house twinkled between the water fragments that fell from the heavens. The forest helped to hide the great mansion from view, but it also helped to allow interlopers to creep into the territory. Nine sets of footfalls carefully crept through the undergrowth, nine men stalked closer to the Lockwood house. Their black gear further helped them to blend in with the night, the rain that filtered through the canopy above dripping from their bodies, though they gave no complaint.

The leader of the group, a man with a surly expression and a tattoo of a viper on the back of his left hand, held up a fist to signal for stillness. The group stopped and hunkered down around their commander. With a countdown of fingers, the group of nine synchronised their watches for a 60-minute countdown. Only one hour; one hour to get what they'd been assigned to do. One hour to get in and get out to meet with their extraction. Each of the men had been briefed of the consequences of missing that time. If they weren't at the rendezvous, they would be left behind. The Commander then began to split the nine into teams of three. He did not communicate with words lest it tip their good luck out of their favour. All the Commander needed to do was point to the individuals he needed. He sent the first three in to make way for them.

The Commander waited and watched patiently. He saw only two security offices through his binoculars. Very quickly, they were taken out. Glancing up to the sky, the Commander watched and waited. Timed for a close lightning strike, the group suddenly saw an EMP pulse that cut short all the electrics in the house. With one snap of his fingers, the Commander sent his men down towards the house at a sprint. At the garage door, another group of three broke off from the main group and diverted down to sweep the house for any valuable assets. The Commander and his two men made straight for the old servants' passages that would lead them upwards into the offices of the house. He worked from memory of a blue-print he'd received earlier that week. His men followed him without comment, as they travelled further into the dark house.

* * *

 _February 15_ _th_ _, 1987_

John Hammond levelled Benjamin Lockwood a tired look. "Benjamin, honestly. We have investors, we have the company, we have you and I. Do not worry yourself over money."

Benjamin pulled on his tie to try and work it loose. Damn it, he'd been up all night and now he was struggling in the office heat. "John, I know you want everything to be perfect – I do as well. But we need to be realistic. Construction, employment, insurance; it all adds up eventually."

"Ben," Hammond smiled as he reached over to pat his dear friend's shoulder as if they were blood brothers. "Our park is going to be the finest thing this world has ever seen. We will make an entertainment paradise for not only our customers, but our dinosaurs as well. To achieve that, we must spare no expense."

"Perhaps we could _spare no expense_ if we didn't have to keep paying out for new iterations of our animals. The resources needed to create entirely new lifeforms is very expensive, John. We cannot afford to create three or four versions of the same animals indefinitely."

"Henry is doing his best," John mildly defended. "It is not his fault some of the DNA strands require further work, and we cannot see the full effects of that until the animals are here."

"John, all I'm asking is that you allow me some autonomy to bring in some more money."

Knowing that he wasn't going to win this fight, Hammond sighed and threw up his hands. Benjamin later left the office and began to walk around the building housing the labs. Construction had expanded the main building and its nearby workers village, even as they'd made leaps and bounds in terms of the dinosaurs they were starting to house. Despite his complaining, Benjamin had to marvel in awe at what he and Hammond were creating. It was if they were building an entirely new world out here.

Footsteps loudly slapped against the linoleum floor. Benjamin glanced up in order to see the young Henry Wu marching towards him. Benjamin could only guess at what had this man's hackles up. He held a folder in his hand that he clutched tightly to his front as he stopped right in front of Benjamin.

"Mr Lockwood," Dr Wu bowed his head by way of greeting.

Benjamin nodded back warily. "Dr. Is anything the matter?"

"Well," Wu huffed. "Just Mr Hammond getting in the way of my job with his sentimentality. That's why I've come to you. I'm hoping that you'll be more openminded then he will once I present this to him." Quickly, he thrust the file to Benjamin. "I really think you should consider my recommendations for phase 2. I think we should go to version 4.4."

Benjamin's brows shot up almost to his hairline. He hadn't paid that much attention to the lingo of the scientists and Hammond, but THAT one he knew. "You want to replace all of the current stock of animals? What's wrong with the dinosaurs?"

"Look," Wu said, and his voice dropped low as if he feared being overheard. "As we stand here, almost no one in the world has seen a living dinosaur. Nobody knows what they're really like. The dinosaurs we have are real, but in certain ways they're unsatisfactory, unconvincing. I could make them better."

That sounded expensive. "Better in what way?"

"Allow me another try at manipulating the DNA. Let me restock what we currently have. They'd be something the public could really be entertained by. I could make them so much better – I could make _art!_ "

"But Dr Wu," Benjamin held up his hand to try and slow the man's ramblings, to attempt to reason. "What we have here is real dinosaurs."

"I don't think we should kid ourselves here," Wu scoffed, "the past is gone. We can never recreate it. All we've done is reconstruct the past, or at least a version of it – and I think I can make it better."

"Better than real?"

"Why not? After all, I've already modified them to bring them to life. We gave them growth hormones to make them big as quick as possible. Why stop there? Why not create the dinosaur that the visitors want to see? One that is more acceptable to the visitors."

"You want to make puppets, fictions, something that's already inside their imaginations." Oh, Benjamin could just imagine Hammond's disappointment. He would hate to settle for anything less than close to the real thing, the unexpected, the magnificent. "But in doing that, they wouldn't be REAL."

"But they're not real NOW." Wu snapped. "That's what I'm trying to tell you, there isn't any reality here."

"And then what do we do with our current stock, hmm?" Benjamin asked with a scolding eye. "What would you have me do with the current animals you want to just throw away in preparation for the new?"

Dr Wu shrugged, as if uncaring. "Do what you want with them. They are still miracles of science they can still be worth a fortune to us in terms of resources."

 _Or a fortune to someone else…_ Benjamin realised as a lightbulb lit up in his brain. It was a risky move. He knew Hammond would be furious with him when he found out. But he'd also just bargained with Hammond to allow him to get a little money back from these dinosaurs. Pharmaceutical companies, research labs, they would pay a hefty price for bits and pieces of such raw genetic material. And all that money could be put into funds for this park. Benjamin himself didn't like the idea much; the thought of selling off these wonderful animals for profit made the inside of his chest feel hollow. But a little voice, one that sounded suspiciously like his father's, told him to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.

He thrust the folder back into Dr Wu's hands. "Continue into version 4.4. But only in the sense that your research will allow these animals to be healthy and long-lived. You will not mismanage our dinosaurs, just so you can create something _acceptable_ to our visitors. And in the meantime, with the old specimens… I'll see what I can do with them."

* * *

 _August 3_ _rd_ _, 2011_

Deep beneath the great house, the Indoraptor slept on. Chin tucked into his curling tail, he took his time to breath. Only in sleep was he allowed true peace. Men and their prods haunted his waking hours. After his little escapade through the woods, the hated-human had spotted his wound. He wasn't sure if they'd figured out his escape, but they had still punished him greatly. No Sister in two moons, all his time spent on their infuriatingly pointless exercises, or their maddening postures of dominance he refused to allow. But the night… sleep… it allowed a little bit of peace from his near constant rage.

Abruptly, the musty night air was disturbed. New scents began to mingle in the ever-so-slight currents all around. They were unknown. The Indoraptor opened his eyes. In this dark abyss carved out below the earth, there was an equilibrium he was familiar with. But it was gone. The silence of the world below was broken. He could hear footsteps, quiet ones, but his ears still strained to pick up the sound. His stomach twisted. This was not right. It wasn't morning yet, his keepers were never here at this hour. This was unusual, therefore it could only mean trouble.

Hurriedly uncoiling, the Indoraptor pressed his tail to the back of the cage, letting the shadows be his ally. He gave a sharp cry, a warning for the intruders to stay clear. There was a pause. And then, slowly, the handle to his room opened. In stepped three humans he was unfamiliar with. They were garbed head to foot in their strange second-skins, the colour of his own black scales. They were bulky, he could smell the plastic covering them, as well as the mouldy scent of rain in trees. From the outside, in the forest. These were not just intruders in his realm, but intruders in the whole of the Father's kingdom. Their scents reeked of meat that had been left in the sun too long, a scent of wrongness, of bad-blood.

"Holy cow…" whispered the lead one. He pulled a little black box from his shoulder and spoke into it. "This is beta team to alpha team. Do you copy?"

The black box crackled, and the Indoraptor hissed in surprise at the sharp and loud noise. _"Copy that. What's wrong?"_

"Sir… we got something. I don't know what it is. But it's scaly and full of teeth. Over."

 _"_ _Bag it. We take whatever's of value. Over and out._ "

The lead human turned to the other two. "You heard him! Find me some bolt cutters and get that thing open."

Whilst the other two rummaged around the room, the lead one knelt close by the cage door. The Indoraptor did not move. Did not once move a muscle other than to keep his eyes on the foe closest to him. The human uttered words to him, supposedly soothing, telling him how good he was, mistaking him for an infant due to his non-threatening behaviour. The Indoraptor let him believe that. Soon, the others had handed their leader a large clumpy piece of metal. He pushed it against the lock, squeezed and snapped it off. Cautiously, they opened the cage door, and another human offered the leader the chain and collar he was familiar with.

But he wouldn't be putting it on.

As the human-leader reached out to push the collar over his head, the Indoraptor watched, and waited. When they were inches apart, the Indoraptor suddenly lunged. His teeth snapped around the collar and yanked. The human cried as he was pulled off balance. Startled, the Indoraptor slashed out with his long claws on his overly-big hands. Quite by chance, his middle claw sliced open the human's exposed neck. Red blood fountained out and drenched the floor. A scent, of metal and meat and _life_ washed over him, and the Indoraptor was felt a sudden ravenous hunger. There was a desire in him to see more of this red stuff, to touch it, to feel it while it was still warm.

Shouts erupted outside his cage. The humans were pointing small guns at him. The Indoraptor screeched and sprinted out of the still open door. He leapt up onto the closest human, and by reflex he didn't even know he had, his big sickle toe claws sank into his pray as he collided with it. More screams sounded, as he bit and clawed in a quick frenzy.

BANG!

The loud noise made him jump, startled. His long tail lashed out and tripped the other human's legs out from under him. As he fell to the floor, a drive to hunt, to chase, to kill, drove its way through the Indoraptor's brain. Abandoning the human he'd wounded so terribly, he dove for the fresh one. Body acting without ever having prior knowledge of what to do, he clamped his jaws around the face and neck. He didn't know whether to squeeze or to tear at the flesh – so he ended up doing both. He only stopped when the black box on the dead leader's shoulder made another noise. It broke the Indoraptor from his stupor long enough to regain control of his impulses and he hissed at it. He wasn't hungry anyway, but he had to admit… his first kill had been good. The rush of adrenaline, the speed, the thrill of feeling the heartbeat of another wither and stop under his claws… it created such an addictive feeling.

But now he was free to do as he pleased. Maybe he could navigate the walls and corridors until he found his way to Sister? He had smelt her earlier, when the humans in white coats had come to poke him with needles. Her scent had been polluted with evidence of disease. That knowledge made him want to go to her immediately, to discover for himself if she was alright. And besides, they'd been kept apart again, and that needed to be remedied.

Cautiously stepping outside his room, he hunkered down to all fours, pressing his nose to the cold metal floor. He sniffed about, turning his head left and right as he followed her earlier scent. As he moved, an impatient tick ran through his body, echoing out through his toe claws in a consistent _one-two, one-two-three_ rhythm. And with that strange staccato following him, he prowled out towards the upper reaches of the house.

Mill rubbed his tired eyes from underneath his glasses. _God_ , he needed more sleep. His numb fingers typed out at the keyboard on his desk, trying to rewrite the same sentence he'd been trying to compose for the past five minutes. His eyes stared dully at the glare of the computer screen. Attempting to direct his unfocused brain, he pulled up a load of other files in order to cross-reference. He'd promised Mr Lockwood he'd catch these crooks, and if he wanted to have them by the balls, he needed to be thorough.

The door opened, and Mills at first groaned, because he thought it was Mrs Cheng, the cleaner, come to dust his office as she always did at 5am. Had he been up all night? It wouldn't surprise him, he'd gotten stuck at his desk like that before; but he honestly did think –

And then he looked up and saw the three men dressed in black body armour. Mills went to shout the alarm, rising from his chair to meet the intruders head on. But the leader was already reaching around his desk and grabbing hold of his shirt. The man pulled and Mills was launched forward. Flying over the desk, he landed roughly on the floor, painfully twisting his arm as he landed on it wrong. He moaned, winded, and was unable to respond as two other sets of hands hauled him up and held him confined, his wrists locked behind his back.

Mills seethed with anger as he watched the huge beefcake sit in his chair and begin typing away at his computer. "You won't find anything!" he snarled breathlessly. "It's all password protected!"

The man levelled a look at Mills, and he spotted chilling eyes, one brown, and one green. The man held up a black flash drive. "Never underestimate what Dodgson is capable of."

Mills went still, his blood cold. Dodgson. Mr Lockwood had tried to warn him, but he hadn't thought it possible he'd be this obvious. But there was no denying it. If Dodgson was involved, then this was more serious then just a hostile takeover. This was BIOSYN.

* * *

 _March 2_ _nd_ _, 1987_

Benjamin knew something was wrong when he finally came home from the Muertes Archipelago and saw an unfamiliar car in his driveway. Sleek, black, a Hummer, with tinted windows. As he strode up the steps to his front door, he didn't even have time to open them before a figure burst through them and launched itself at him. Benjamin almost fell back down the stone steps, before he caught himself and the girl in his arms with a burst of startled laughter.

"Father!" the 13-year-old cried giddily. Almost as quickly as she had clung to him, she let him go, and looked up at him excitedly. "Did you many dinosaurs? How big are they? Are they fully grown yet? Are there still some babies left? What species has Uncle John got? When can I–"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there," Benjamin chuckled.

The click of Iris' heels struck the hard floor as she stomped towards them. She crossed her arms and dramatically sighed. "I swear, she has more attention for these fictitious beasts than she has for the real world. If you offered to drop her off amongst them, she'd live as one."

Ah, poor Iris. Whilst she never discredited Benjamin's ambitions, she found the concept of dinosaurs being brought back to life to be a little too far for her imagination to comprehend. She'd said she would believe it when she saw it. And unfortunately, that doubt manifested into jabs at Maisie, even if she loved her like her own flesh and blood. Iris just preferred it when girls stuck to girl-things.

But Maisie gave as good as she got, as she turned a scathing eye on her nanny. "I would. They eat only the most nutritious of diets: mouthy governesses."

"Now you two," Benjamin gently scolded. "Maisie, that wicked sense of humour will get you into a lot of trouble someday, if you're not careful."

The girl looked ashamedly at the floor. "Sorry, father."

He nodded and turned to his long-time friend. "Iris, who's car–"

The housekeeper immediately appeared to pale slightly. "I-I tried to stop him, sir. Said you weren't entertaining visitors. But he insisted. He barged in – he's waiting for you in your study."

Benjamin left the pair of them there, determined to meet this intruder and exile him from his sanctuary. But as he opened the door and beheld the interloper, he stilled. He recognised the man all too well. Handsome square jaw, roman-nose, light brown hair and eyes that would make women swoon. His build was tall and broad, but his movements belied a danger that was prominent in the confident smirk he sent Benjamin's way.

Benjamin had to make an effort to keep his lip from curling. "Lewis Dodgson."

Oh yes, the infamous agent Dodgson. Soon after INGEN had been established, naturally a competitor had arisen: BIOSYN. The company were rather infamous even now for amassing and utilising technology they stole from others. And Lewis Dodgson was their number one thug. Benjamin had heard he'd once been a employed by the federal government. It would explain his certain skills in intimidation, interrogation, spying, extortion, hacking, combat, the list went on.

Dodgson's smirk widened. "Mr Lockwood. Hope I'm not interrupting anything. But I heard you just got back from a little _business_ trip. I thought it best if we talk in person."

Closing the door firmly behind him, Benjamin kept his face calm and cool as he strode past the interloper to sit behind his desk. "And what would we need to talk about?"

"Mr Lockwood," Dodgson began, sitting himself in the opposite seat – even though Benjamin had not invited him to do so. "I represent a few people that are very interested in the new frontiers you're investing in."

"Frontiers?" Benjamin pretended to be confused for the sake of saying he tried; even if he knew that if Dodgson was here, it meant BIOSYN already had a good idea of what Hammond and he were up to. "You must be mistaken."

"I don't joke, Mr Lockwood." Dodgson's eyes suddenly turned hard, in a manner that Benjamin found it difficult to keep his composure and stare right back. "My employers know what you and Mr Hammond are up to."

"BIOSYN have barely been up more than a year, yet you're already garnering a reputation for theft, espionage and sabotage." Benjamin decided to throw away pretence entirely, and cut deep for a scathing remark. "Tell me, how does it feel to work for a company so creatively impotent that they have to resort to taking ideas from real innovators?"

"I don't know. How about you tell me how it feels being an underappreciated second fiddle to Hammond?"

"What?"

"Let's face it, Mr Lockwood. Hammond wants nothing but your money and your connections. He's a parasite – sucks up everything and leaves with the spoils. He might call you a partner, but he doesn't let you in, not really. And once he's done with you, he'll throw you away like so much trash. But half this venture with him is yours, by rights." Dodgson leaned his elbows on the edge of the desk, and Benjamin had the instinctive response to cringe away. "My employers would know exactly how to appreciate someone like you. Someone with vision, someone who knows how society needs to progress into the future. If you would break off with Hammond, bring your work to us, we could see it be properly used."

"And what would you offer me in return? Money?"

"My employers are willing to write any kind of numbers on a cheque. We could reimburse you of all the money you've invested into Hammond's disaster-waiting-to-happen."

"You know what? _You're_ the real parasite here." Benjamin scoffed, shaking his head. "You think I would betray my best friend, a man whose vision and purpose inspires me? For what? _Money?_ You're wasting my time."

Finally, Dodgson's patience began to wear thin. "Mr Lockwood! Don't you get it? We could use this technology to make sure this benefits humanity – not just used for a cheap circus!"

"Like what? Extort them? Hunt them? Or throw them in a lab for the most lethal and torturous of experiments?" he scowled, his voice low and lethal with its cold fury. "I would rather die before giving those magnificent animals to the likes of you."

"You already did." The words made Benjamin freeze. Dodgson snorted. "What? Didn't do a thorough check of who you were selling those _early versions_ too? Look at it this way, Mr Lockwood. With or without your help, BIOSYN will be getting their hands on this technology – on those animals. You can either be a part of humanity's next step forward; or, be a footnote under Hammond's shoe."

"Get out of my house." Benjamin growled.

Seeing as he was getting nowhere, Dodgson rolled his eyes and stood, brushing his jacket off as if the very air Benjamin breathed was disgusting. He strolled out with all the care and confidence of a man who knew he'd lost nothing. Benjamin let him go, not paying attention anymore. All he could focus on was his rolling stomach, and the thought of those poor animals he'd given away.

* * *

 _August 3_ _rd_ _, 2011_

"Well I'll be…" the intruder at the computer murmured. He stared at the screen, and Mills dreaded to think of what he'd found in the files that flash-drive had managed to unlock. "And here I thought she was just a kid he was hoarding away. A relative we could use, but this…"

Mills felt his stomach clench. Oh no. They knew about Maisie. Trying not to alert the two goons that still held him prisoner, Mills attempted to reach his fingers for his watch on the opposite wrist. If he could just push one button on the side, it would alert the entire house-hold of an emergency. He needed to call in the cavalry, these men couldn't be allowed to leave this building with such sensitive information.

The leader at the computer reached for his walkie-talkie. "Omega team, this is alpha team. Change of plan. I want you to find a little girl. She is of extreme value. Do you copy?"

The answer was almost immediate. _"Copy that, alpha team. We're split up and heading for the bedrooms. We'll – ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"_

Everyone in the room cringed away at the scream that erupted from the walkie-talkie. Mills felt his two captors go rigid in sudden fear. Their leader recovered quickly and tried to scramble back for control. "Omega team do you read me?" No answer. He began to flip through the channels. "Beta team, report in!" Nothing. "Omega? Do you copy!"

No one spoke.

Mills kicked out his leg into one of his captor's knees. He heard a crunch that made him squirm, but it was enough to hear the man go down, wailing. Surging upwards, Mills threw off the hold of the singular man that still held him. Unprepared for such movement, his grip loosened enough for Mills to wriggle free and run for it. He wasn't stupid. He knew he had no combat skills that could hope to match these guys. His only chance was to get away. As he did so, he pushed his emergency button on his watch. He raced around the corner, even as he heard the shouts of the hostile agents pursuing him.

It was time to rally the rest of the staff and kick out these invaders!

* * *

The Indoraptor was sore and jittery. He wasn't used to all this adrenaline, not used to all this commotion. He'd injured a few other intruders in his quest to find his Sister. He was close now. Her scent was strongest here: up a short incline of stairs, to a level ground where remained on final door. From the heavy scent of sleep and warmth that permeated this area, the Indoraptor took note that this must be her den, where she slept. Well, now it would be his too, he reasoned with himself. Pack had to stick together, his instincts told him.

But as he quietly scratched his way up the stairs, he stiffened as he saw the same kind of human outside Sister's den as he'd encountered everywhere else in the house tonight. Garbed in black, stinking of untrustworthiness and clearly a threat. The human was hanging outside her door, meaning to intrude on Sister as she slept. Instincts told the Indoraptor that it was a cardinal sin to trespass on the den, on the nest where the pack called home, where they were most vulnerable!

The human reached out to open the door, and the Indoraptor would not stand for it. He hissed and launched himself up the final steps. He barrelled into the man as he tried to turn around. Large head hitting into the man's abdomen, he bowled him over. The pair of them fell down and tumbled together. Memories of the large cat in the forest came back to the Indoraptor, and he remembered through that experience hat he must do now. He kicked out with his back legs, shredding upwards and pushing simultaneously. The human was not anchored as the cat had been. So instead of him tearing open the human's second and primary skins, he instead launched him into the air. The human crashed into the far-wall, and fell down to the ground, splintering a heavy wooden table as he did. The human lay motionless and didn't get back up.

Knowing he wasn't dead, the Indoraptor clambered to his feet, and made to go after his kill. But then, a soft noise from the room beyond caught his attention, and he stopped. His attention came back to the door, his prey forgotten. Sister was beyond this final boundary. But how to get in? He peered curiously at the piece of metal sticking out of the wood. He remembered a similar shape on the door in the garage when he and Sister had snuck outside. He remembered watching her press it down until it faced the ground. Curiously, he reached his own long claws out until they rested on the top of the handle. When at first the weight of his own fingers was only enough to turn it a fraction, he applied a little pressure.

There was a soft _'click_ ', and the door swung open on noisy hinges. The room beyond was dark, broken by moving starlight that originated from a little globe-like-thing on a table. A wooden structure with four beams pointed towards the ceiling was pressed against the right wall. On the far side was a door of glass that led out into the sky. The rain had stopped, and the moonlight it allowed in illuminated a small figure on a pile of soft furs and leaves – a nest.

Sister groaned as she sat up a little, eyes barely blinking open. "Jack? Wha'ya doin'?"

Her speech was garbled, the scent of sleep still heavy on her hot cheeks. Jack shivered his jaws to chitter softly, a reassurance that all was well. Without a second thought, he came up to her nest, and poked it with his snout. Soft and warm, a well built nest made for comfort. What a clever Sister to figure this out all by herself. He wanted to test it; pack slept together, after all. But he couldn't be sure if there would be more intruders. Best to be ready, not compromised by getting tangled in the bedding of the nest. So, he curled up on the fur of her floor, next to the nest, so he would be between Sister and the door. He didn't mean to, but as he lay there with golden eyes fixed on the entranceway, he felt the fatigue of the night begin to creep up on him. Soon, it was getting harder and harder to fight the droop of his eyelids, until finally, he was snoring as loudly as Sister was in her nest.

And that was how Jack and Maisie were found not an hour later, as Benjamin Lockwood and Eli Mills rushed as quickly as they were able to find the princess of the house. They and the rest of the staff had managed to find the bodies of broken bruised men strewn across the house, crying through pain and yelling about a monster. They'd managed to apprehend the other three agents that had captured Mills, but they needed to be sure that Maisie was safe!

As they came to the door, they froze, and their heartbeats stopped for one dreaded second. But as they recognised the girl sleeping peacefully in her bed, the dinosaur that lay curled up in slumber on her rug, and the man that lay in a crumpled heap on a shattered table with a clearly broken arm… they began to realise what had happened. Had this little monster sought to protect Maisie? Had it recognised danger and knew to guard her from it? In the pair of them began a fundamental change on that night. Benjamin Lockwood looked upon this beast with slow garnering respect, his mind ticking over how to reward (And perhaps even encourage) such behaviour.

As for Mills… he couldn't help but look upon the sleeping Frankenstein-dinosaur, and think of highly trained men it had ploughed through. What possibilities could this open up, he asked himself… Perhaps this little freak could be of some worth after all…


End file.
